Do you know what our news sounds like? Some of it is like yours. There’s a lot about politics. Elections have just taken place in the US and will shortly take place here. Politicians argue. Crimes are committed. Accidents happen. Sometimes there are even good things on the news, although such reports seem few and far between.
And often, much too often, the newscaster mentions that our neighbours sent over a few rockets. The last statistic I heard was that 50 rockets had fallen since last night. Most of them do not cause injuries, but people have been badly injured by rockets. A million Israelis live under threat of rocket fire from Gaza. When they hear a siren, they have less than a minute to get to the shelter. If they have children, they have to listen to the news to hear whether schools will be open that day. What a way to live!
Those of us who don’t live in those areas are also affected by the news, because we care about our fellow countrypeople. Don’t you? News like that affects what we do and what we say. And so it should.
This post isn’t about taking sides. All I want to say is that people make judgements without knowing the facts. And they shouldn’t.
And the weather news is that winter has finally come to Jerusalem.
Miriam Drori, Author 
6 replies on “And here is the news”
Ref: “This post isn’t about taking sides. All I want to say is that people make judgments without knowing the facts. And they shouldn’t.”
All too true…
Thanks, Angela.
The only way we know about all these rocket attacks aimed at Israel is through friends who visit and have family in Israel. Why does UK BBC news never mention it? They always mention any retaliations but it then sounds as if Israel is initiating aggression.
Unfortunately, it’s not just the BBC who never mention it.
And there are events that only become ‘news’ once the cameras have arrived. I heard about an earthquake in Nicaragua on the world service one night – didn’t reach the mainstream press for 2 days, when the cameras could get there. But they implied it had only just happened!
But ‘truth’ is a difficult concept – one person’s truth is another’s fantasy. And it’s impossible to include everything. Which makes the person making the decision about what constitutes ‘news’ v powerful.
I think the decision about what constitutes news can change the course of history.