...“What’s obvious is that CBS News – and, specifically, CEO Jeffrey Fager – have abandoned their fundamental role and responsibility to the public: to provide reliable facts and to correct errors if they’re made,” says Levin. “It’s particularly absurd that CBS continues to claim that the town of Bethlehem is completely surrounded by a wall, like ‘an open-air prison.’ This is patently false and it’s shocking it that hasn’t been corrected a full year after the broadcast. The charge is one favored by anti-Israel propagandists. The question is: is CBS now in that category?”
Cindy Mindell..
Jewish Ledger..
15 May '13..
On April 22, 2012 CBS’s 60 Minutes aired “Christians of the Holy Land,” reported by Bob Simon and produced by Harry Radliffe. There were several factual errors in the segment, the most glaring of which described the security barrier built to stop suicide bombers entering Israel from the West Bank “completely surrounds” Bethlehem.
In fact, maps provided by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the United Nations, B’tselem, and even the PLO indicate that this is not so: the security fence is located to the north and west of Bethlehem and leaves the rest of the city’s perimeter open to the West Bank.
In response, the Boston-based watchdog organization, CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America) posted articles on its website indicating the errors and informed CBS of the network’s error. Leaders of the organization showed up at a CBS shareholders’ meeting and submitted a proxy to call on the CBS Board of Directors to make sure that CBS News lived up to its policy of corrections. In August 2012, CAMERA took out a half-page ad in the Wall Street Journal pointing out the erroneous information included in the report.
CBS never made the correction.
Then, on April 7 of this year, CBS chairman Jeff Fager spoke at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in New Canaan, where he is a member, as part of the church’s weekly program, “Abraham’s Tent: Jews, Christians and Muslims in the World Today.” The church website states the intent of the program as follows:
“We must educate ourselves with a basic understanding of each other’s perspectives. We must also look honestly at our conflicts, and we must work to live together in peace. This series will give people the knowledge and understanding they need to do this.
“The educational program from September to June will be organized in three terms around these three topics. In the fall, St. Mark’s will look at The Common Word, examining what we have in common. In the winter, they will look at our conflicted history, and in the spring they will explore ways in which to live together in peace.”
On the day Jeff Fager spoke, CAMERA media analyst Dexter Van Zile was in the St. Mark’s audience. Upon entering the church, he first noticed copies of CAMERA’s August 2012 Wall Street Journal ad displayed on a table for audience members to take. Before Fager began his presentation, Reverend Peter F. Walsh, rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, distributed copies to those who did not have one. According to Van Zile, “Fager showed the 60 Minutes segment and then complained about the angry response the show had elicited. In particular, he condemned the Wall Street Journal’s decision to run CAMERA’s ad, which he said was intended to create havoc on the CBS show’s reporting. Fager then told his audience that CAMERA got it wrong about the security fence in its ad and that ‘Bethlehem is surrounded by a wall.’”
After Fager’s presentation, during a Q & A session, Van Zile identified himself as a CAMERA employee, pointed out the error and offered to give $5,000 from his own pocket to a charity of Fager’s choice if Fager could prove that the security barrier in fact completely surrounded Bethlehem. According to Van Zile, Fager answered, “Okay.” But he ignored the challenge until May 1, when Van Zile phoned the chairman’s office. The next day, Fager contacted CAMERA through a CBS staff-person who stated, “We are looking into your points about the security barrier.”
To date, however, 60 Minutes has failed to issue a correction, either during its Sunday broadcast or on its website – contrary to CBS’s corporate policy which states that “significant errors of fact must be corrected clearly and promptly in the broadcast or on the web page of the program in which the error was made…”
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