Jews and Judaism

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NPR gets stung

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One of the GetReligion posts I’ve had in my guilt file for weeks is a look at the ethics of undercover journalism. Following the stings of various Planned Parenthood offices, where undercover journalists exposed employees willing to break rules and laws in order to help an underage sex ring, a lively debate broke out among pro-lifers. Some defended the morality of the undercover journalism while others said that lying can’t be defended, even if it does expose wrongdoing.


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Planned Parenthood debate? Where?

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A reader pointed us to this piece in the Canton Repository by Charita Goshay headlined “Clergy debate over Planned Parenthood shows no signs of abating.” OK, a journalistic debate sounds promising. Until you read it and see that the reporter managed to locate clergy on only one side of the story. And that side, you will be stunned to know, is the side that sees no problems with Planned Parenthood or the services it provides, including abortion.


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Breaking Catholic-Jewish news from the '60s

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An odd headline came to my inbox yesterday: “Pope exonerates Jews for Jesus’ death.” It was from the Associated Press, and I found it odd not that the pope had made clear that Jews did not have Jesus’ blood on their hands. It was odd that this was being reported as news now.


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Define 'anti-Semitism;' give one example

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As a journalist, I know why we are supposed to use the word “alleged” over and over in crime stories. The accused is not guilty until his or her trial has been completed.


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Angry Birds app v. meditation app

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Some newspapers become obsessed with localizing just for the sake of localizing. Editors will look at something that happened in India and then get their reporters to find local Indian-Americans to comment on the issue. I know first-hand because I have been asked to do these stories in the past.


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The abortion doctor and St. Paul

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Bernard Nathanson was a leading New York City abortion doctor who helped found NARAL. Originally that stood for the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws. It was later renamed the National Abortion Rights Action League. Now it’s known as NARAL Pro-Choice America. Nathanson worked with abortion rights pioneers for the legalization of abortion in the United States, a goal they accomplished with the Supreme Court’s Roe V. Wade decision. Nathanson reports that he was personally responsible for some 75,000 abortions. He performed one of these on his own unborn child. Previously he’d paid for another girlfriend to have an abortion.


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Get Egypt: Vague, vaguer, vaguest

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Events in Egypt roll on and, of course, journalists and diplomats are all trying to figure out what is up with the Muslim Brotherhood and it’s potential role in the new secular or Islamic state of Egypt. In other words, will a democratic process lead to an Islamic republic?


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Extremism in context

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CNN’s Reliable Sources from Sunday details some of the general problems or opportunities with media coverage in Egypt. Host Howard Kurtz and his guests discuss everything from Al Jazeera being shut down in Egypt to how reporters are dodging bullets with protesters being felled all around. The closure of foreign bureaus means that those hungry for news have been tuning into Al Jazeera English, which focuses on Middle East coverage. Tmatt already looked at one ghost in the coverage — the fate of Egypt’s Christian community.


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