Ethan Bronner - Tag Search

James Rainey, the Los Angeles Times' media critic, waded into the month-old controversy over New York Times Jerusalem Bureau Chief Ethan Bronner yesterday, concluding that Bronner should be allowed to remain in his post, despite his son volunteering to join Israel's army, the Israel Defense Forces.

In his piece, Rainey argues that Bronner is a skilled reporter who should be judged on the content of his journalism, not on potential biases and internal thought processes that nobody besides Bronner himself can fully understand.

Rainey makes a good case for judging journalists by their work, but he also sidesteps the most powerful arguments against Bronner's remaining.

One more word on Bronnergate: Al-Jazeera's Listening Post program did a thoughtful segment on the controversy this weekend. It discusses Bronner's son's service in the Israeli Defense Forces, but it also explores a bigger question: the extent to which Bronner is enmeshed in Israeli society, and how that affects his coverage.

The New York Times' public editor, Clark Hoyt, thinks Ethan Bronner should be reassigned from the paper's Jerusalem bureau for the duration of his son's service in the IDF. He bases his recommendation mostly on avoiding the appearance of bias -- rather than any actual bias in Bronner's reporting.

The paper's editor, Bill Keller, disagrees:

It is, in addition to those things, a sign of respect for readers who care about the region and who follow the news from there with minds at least partially open. You seem to think that you... can tell the difference between reality and appearances, but our readers can't. I disagree.

Not to turn this into a media criticism blog, but I agree with Hoyt -- and with Evan, who wrote about Bronner last month.

Electronic Intifada, a Chicago-based news and opinion Web site that covers the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, believes it may have indirect confirmation that the son of New York Times Jerusalem Bureau Chief Ethan Bronner was "recently inducted" into Israel's army, the Israel Defense Forces.

Electronic Intifada received a tip about Bronner's son -- similar to one which surfaced on the Internet months ago -- over the weekend and sent an e-mail to the Times inquiring about the tip and whether Bronner believed that, if true, it would be a conflict of interest.

Times Foreign Editor Susan Chira, in a bit of brusque, failed PR, responded with this:

Ethan Bronner referred your query to me, the foreign editor. Here is my comment: Mr. Bronner's son is a young adult who makes his own decisions. At The Times, we have found Mr. Bronner's coverage to be scrupulously fair and we are confident that will continue to be the case.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants a final peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority, not any interim deals, and says that such an agreement will require "courageous leadership," says Jerusalem Post columnist Herb Keinon.

Bibi that PA President Mahmoud Abbas "should not be 'counted out,'" Keinon writes. Forgive my cynicism, but I don't think we're going to get anywhere near "final-status" negotiations without Abbas, and Bibi isn't going to bring Abbas back in unless he freezes settlements.

"Our right to this land stems from the fact that God gave it to us, and as long as it is not in our hands, the world will face calamities."

Were it not for the title of this post, one might be inclined to reflexively attribute a quote like that to some raving mad Muslim in the Middle East, like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for example. But hold on a moment, dear reader:

"Once the Jews recognize our rights to this land and stand up for what is ours, that will bring a solution to all the world's problems."

That's right, it's a Jew. Rabbi Elishama Cohen of the "Homesh Yeshiva," to be exact - the subject of part two in New York Times reporter Ethan Bronner's series on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, entitled "The Hard Core."