SF Chronicle admits pressures and mistakes as demonstrators stage ‘Die In’

The Network Against Disinformation held a demonstration in front of the Chronicle on Mission Street on Friday to protest the Chronicle’s biased news coverage favoring Israel on balance. Demonstrators staged a ‘die in’ to infer that efforts to prevent detailed news coverage of the Israeli government’s terrorism against the Palestinian civilian population is responsible for the continuation of the incredibly brutal treatment and killing of Palestinian civilians, health and aid workers, international solidarity workers, and reporters.

Sam Zuckerman of the Chronicle’s Business Department came out to speak with demonstrators and explain how difficult it is to write accurate and fair coverage about the Middle East. He explained that the Chronicle has made mistakes frequently, and that news media throughout the United States have been subject to a very vicious and concerted pressure campaign from the Israeli lobby. He said that “There are boycott campaigns that have been organized by elements of the Jewish community and as far as I know the Israeli Consulate is cooperating with them.”

“They don’t necessarily care whether our coverage is fair or balanced or not” claimed Zuckerman. “They want it to be pro Israel and unless we tow the pro Israeli line, they will threaten us. It’s true all over the country.”

When asked why the Israeli lobby was more successful in affecting coverage than others’, Zuckerman said, “They’re better organized, more effective, and more powerful, and have more money”. “Reporters everywhere and editors everywhere are aware of this pressure and can’t help but second guess themselves”.

One demonstrator asked Zuckerman how the demonstrators and others could be more effective at getting fair and balanced reporting from the chronicle. Zuckerman replied that “People respond to pressure and (the Israelis) are more effective at creating pressure”. “Study what the Israeli lobby is doing, they know how to do this. They’re very smart and they’re very effective.”