A year of Middle East editorials in the FT
Just Journalism’s latest report, ‘Financial Times 2009: A year of Middle East editorials’ analyses all 121 of the newspaper’s editorials relating to the Middle East last year, revealing a number of important trends.
The report is divided into four sections addressing the FT editorial column's position on:
1. Israel and the Palestinians: Leaders and efforts for peace
2. Key points of conflict: Settlements and Gaza
3. Iran: Nuclear ambitions and tensions with Israel
4. The Arab world: Regimes and peacemaking
The study shows that threats against Israel’s existence issued by Iranian President Ahmadinejad were ignored in the paper’s editorial column, yet the prospect of an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities was referred to on numerous occasions.
The FT also downplayed other factors in the conflict such as terrorism and the political split between Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank.
Just Journalism advisory board member Robin Shepherd, author of ‘A State Beyond the Pale: Europe’s Problem with Israel’ and Director of International Affairs at The Henry Jackson Society, said: ‘This report demonstrates that the FT has repeatedly disregarded salient facts when it comes to the Middle East and disproportionately blames Israel for the region’s woes.’
‘For a paper that prides itself on its high standards as an opinion-forming publication, it is regretful that much of the broader argumentation and wider context is being omitted.’
‘The sidelining of Ahmadinejad’s public threats against Israel in its discussion of Iran-Israel relations indicates a narrow approach in which Israel is usually viewed as an instigator of aggression but not a victim of it.’
‘It was a surprise to see how sympathetic the FT was towards despotic regimes like Saudi Arabia given that its criticism of Israel was so harsh.’
‘These findings may surprise the FT’s readers, who tend to regard the FT as relatively apolitical compared to the other broadsheets.’
The report was submitted to the Financial Times for comment but Just Journalism has not yet received a response to the findings.
Click here to read the full report.