Veteran American Editor Critical of Way Press Covers Arab-israel Conflict

A veteran American editor expressed sharp criticism today of American newspaper coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict charging that the American press “misinforms and misleads many millions of newspaper readers” by equating “verifiable facts” from the Israeli side with “fabricated reports” from the Arabs. Philip Hochstein, former senior editor of the New house newspaper organization and publisher of the Washington Jewish Week, reprinted a report by Roy Essoyan, Middle East correspondent of the Associated Press, in the Bulletin of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, in which the correspondent asserted that it is not possible for a newsman to obtain firsthand information on the war situation on the Arab side. He also quoted another article in the Bulletin, by Alfred Friendly of the Washington Post, describing Israel as a free society in which reporters enjoy the basic freedoms of the press.

Mr. Essoyan wrote in the ASNE Bulletin that “the main problem with covering the war from the Arab side is the Arabs won’t let you any where near it.” He noted communications difficulties and that “censorship is rough and frequently illogical.” He declared that “most major Arab news breaks – the coups, assassinations, executions and Arab-Israeli battles that provide our daily news fare – are first announced over government radio stations.” These communiques, Mr. Essoyan said, “are seldom prompt or impartial but they are usually all you’ll get from the Arab side.” The AP correspondent pointed out, “Freedom of the press is a concept foreign to the Arab world. The Arabs regard the press and radio as propaganda branches of the government. Outside of Lebanon, that’s what they are.”

Editorially commenting on Mr. Essoyan’s statements, Mr. Hochstein suggested that “our newspapers are guilty of peddling partisan propaganda disguised as news when they fail each time they publish such an item to clearly label it as coming from a country that does not permit free access to information.” He stressed that “editors have no right to equate Arab reports with reports from Israel when Arab states permit no free reporting whereas Israel affords freedom and cooperation to independent and even hostile reporters.” The editor declared that “the very least of this offense is that the American press thereby gives the best of the deal to those countries that give reporters the least facility, while in effect punishing Israel for making reporting a common right and even a pleasant exercise. The serious part of this offense is that it misinforms and misleads many millions of newspaper readers.”