Palestinian Insiders

[drdon326]

One of the cardinal rules of responsible journalism is the independent status of the journalist ¯ while journalists may belong to political parties, they cannot actively work for a party relevant to the sphere they cover, lest their independence and neutrality be jeopardized.

But today, the Jerusalem Post reported that two of the largest wire services ¯ Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Associated Press (AP) ¯ have employed journalists with inappropriately close ties to the Palestinian Authority. Majida al-Batsh was a Palestinian affairs correspondent for AFP for many years, while simultaneously being on the payroll of the Palestinian Authority as a reporter for the PA's official organ, Al-Ayyam.

snip

Batsh isn't the only AFP reporter receiving a PA salary on the side:

One of the agency's correspondents in the Gaza Strip is Adel Zanoun, who also happens to be the chief reporter in the area for the PA's Voice of Palestine radio station.

The AFP bureau chief in Jerusalem, Patrick Anidjar, refuses to discuss the issue, saying, "I don't understand why you have to have the name of our correspondents." Pressed to give a specific answer, he says: "I don't want our correspondents' names to go into print. I don't want to answer the question. What is this, a police investigation?"

http://honestreporting.com/articles/45884734/critiques/Palestinian_Insiders.asp

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Reporters on the PA payroll??.....I find that hard to believe.

[mseltzer]

1. It's easy

to believe. The AFP and AP refer to someone who puts on an explosive belt and detonates him/herself on a civilian commuter bus as a militant, or some other mushy term. They are allergic to the "T" word.