Advocate for Israel

How to Respond to Media Bias: Effective Local Media Monitor & Response Plan

• Most Americans get their news from local press. Local papers, radio shows, and television stations reach tens to hundreds of thousands of viewers and listeners a day. National media monitoring agencies need your help. You can help ensure that the media provides a balanced picture regarding Israel.
   
• HOW TO WORK AS A TEAM TO HELP ISRAEL
  
  OU-IPA and CAMERA
  
  STEP 1: FORM A TEAM. Gather dedicated individuals in your community with an interest in working as a team to help Israel by monitoring and responding to your local news media. Members should have email access to be most effective.
  
  Each team should choose one or two local media to regularly focus on: a local paper, radio show or television news program. For a list of local press contacts see: http://capwiz.com/weeklystandard/dbq/media.
  
  Notify Lee Green of CAMERA (leahgreen@aol.com or call 314-275-8448) and the OU Institute for Public Affairs (ipa@ou.org 212-613-8123 NY or 212-513-6484 DC) of your group and which paper or news program you will be monitoring.
  
  Note, you will work as an independent group and not be representing CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America) or the OU-IPA. CAMERA and OU-IPA will, however, be available to help team members analyze articles/transcripts and prepare talking points for letter-writing campaigns. Additionally, if your team alerts us to a particularly unfair or inaccurate report, we may choose to bring it to the attention of our nation-wide team of letter-writers.
  
  STEP 2: TAKE ACTION. When a team member notices an inaccurate or unfair report about Israel, he/she should send an email notice to the rest of the team. Members should be encouraged to make a phone call or write a letter to the media in response. The member can write talking points or call CAMERA or OU-IPA for help with this step.
  
  Or the team can assign a particular person a period of time to monitor the paper, and that person would notify the team by email if there is a problematic report. For example, each member could be assigned a particular week, or each member could be assigned a particular day of the week.
  
  For guidance in how to recognize unfair or inaccurate reporting, browse the CAMERA website: www.camera.org
  
  One of the main goals of your team is to educate community members. So, aside from responding to bad reporting, members should also seek to submit op-eds and general pro-Israel letters-to-the-editors. Also, fair and factual reporting about Israel should be commended. Positive feedback is as important as critical feedback.
  
  KEEP A LOG: Your team may find it helpful to not only read and respond to inaccurate or unfair local news reports, but to also keep a log or file of occurrences of media bias. This log will let you know if your local paper/news program is habitually unfair to Israel, or just on isolated occasions. It's a very useful tool if you choose, for example, to have a meeting with the editor of your local paper.
  
  For papers, clip the articles, including the page numbers and date. For other media, note the date, time, and show. Transcripts can usually be requested.
   
• OTHER IDEAS
  CALL THE MEDIA: Assign each member a particular editor or journalist to be in touch with by phone at least once a week. Members should work on establishing rapport and a good telephone relationship. They should engage the journalists in conversation about the coverage of Israel.
  
  Sensitize them to double standards, prejudicial language, lack of context... Don't vent, instead converse: ask questions, ask their opinion, get them talking. The hope is that eventually you will be a little voice in the back of their head whenever they are editing/writing about Israel.
  
  MEET WITH THE MEDIA: Call a “parlor meeting” with journalists from your local press and respected, respectful, knowledgeable members of your community to let them ask questions and to present Israel’s side of the story. Be prepared and courteous. This is an opportunity to create a lasting, positive relationship with your local media.

Help Israel Center | www.ou.org