Community Magazine August 2016

CM: Cite some examples of biased Palestinian reporting you’ve found – whether it was simple, sloppy, or egregious. Amotz: The problem is not only in the Palestinian reporting, but in the reporting of all the international agencies. And in general, people are not aware that about 85% of the international news they read originates from three news agencies that provide the information to various media outlets. Here’s one example, though: A report by the news agency AP, titled “Israeli Policeman Shoots Man in East Jerusalem,” concealed a story of an attack in which a Palestinian driver ran over and killed a woman and a baby. Also, often, children are used as propaganda, as in the case we documented in the village of Nabi Saleh. Our photographer documented a mother sending her children to create a provocation against the soldiers. Their aim was to capture an image in which the soldier responded in an inflammatory way. They succeeded and this exposure affected the coverage of the case across the world. Recently, we also revealed the false report of the Palestinian ministry of Health, which claimed that Israeli soldiers stop ambulances. The biased image, which was not accurately presented, was a picture of a military ambulance that gave care to a Palestinian. Our photographer, who documented the original event, helped us to catch the lie. Together with the original image, we were able to reveal the cropped image and publish the lie. CM: Was there ever a time when the mainstreammedia had to correct something because of Tazpit’s reporting? Amotz: Yes, at times the media changes their story based on our publication. The example I mentioned above revolving around children from Nabi Saleh has completely changed the British Daily Mail report. This happens often in both the Israeli media and the international media. Usually, though, Tazpit does not work in response to what has already been published. Instead, we focus on reporting first, so that the report we put out will already be precise. Media outlets that workedwith us after the attack in Serona were the first to report correctly on the event, while others published a variety of incorrect reports, such as “Ultra-Orthodox Jews Fired in Tel-Aviv” and so on. CM: Howmany stories each day do you report on or distribute? Amotz: Currently, we distribute approximately eight articles in Englisheveryday, aswell as continuousnews inHebrew. Unfortunately, because of the lack of manpower, we work only 14 hours a day. Our goal is to increase the staff to shifts of 24 hours a day. CM: What do you hope Tazpit will be a year or two from now? Amotz: Our main goal for the coming year is to fill the manpower gap, and open representative offices in Asia and South Africa. Currently, we have representatives in Brazil, who translate our material to Portuguese, and distribute it to 27 media outlet subscribers throughout the country. This year, we want to replicate this model and apply it to another two continents. The hope is that within a few years we will no longer have to rely on donations, as our revenue will come from subscriptions. In order to achieve this goal, we need two years of full activity, which will allow us to reach most of the main media outlets, and become a significant source for them – a source providing the fastest and highest quality news from Israel. To find out more about Tazpit Press Service visit tpsnews.co.il. TAMUZ - AV 5776 AUGUST 2016 57 1 2 3 5 WAS $ 57 5 NOW $ 4 9 5 STARTING AT STARTING AT STARTING AT STARTING AT STARTING AT STARTING AT STARTING AT STARTING AT STARTING AT STARTING AT WAS $ 4 8 0 NOW $ 3 7 5 WAS $ 5 2 5 NOW $ 4 4 0 WAS $ 7 8 0 NOW $ 6 1 0 WAS $ 8 00 NOW $ 6 6 0 4 5 C LOS E T S T Y L E S TO CHOOS E F ROM your dream at dream CLOSETS PRICES 12 WIDTH OPTIONS RANGING FROM 4"- 9.5" 6760 ROUTE 9 | 732.703.6475 HOURS: SUN 11 - 6 | M- TH 10 - 6 | FRI 10 - 3 1 00 P E RC EN T RU SS I AN B I RCH . TOP QUA L I T Y.