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28 May, 7 tweets, 4 min read
1/ This is a second 'footnote' thread (footnote of a footnote, something I tried to invent back in college) on my analysis of the bias in news coverage of Israel/Palestine.

First, these are the threads being commented on:

&
2/ A reader asked these questions:

&

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3/ My response:

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4/ I want to emphasize that I believe the NYT isn't supporting the Palestinians, the Israeli government, Big Oil, Upper West Side Jews, or any specific POV. It's bad journalism that doesn't inform properly because it has no incentive to expend time & resources to do so.
5/ Moreover, bias may be falsely perceived by partisans b/c they desire that powerful entities like the press will support their political aims. For them, news coverage will be biased if it gives credence to opposing views; or for extremists, if it contradicts foundational myths.
6/ I set up a litmus test for good journalism & social science: your subject must recognize themselves.

As @AoDespair said: "My greatest fear is that the people in the world I’m writing about will read it and say, ‘Nah, there’s nothing there.’"
newyorker.com/magazine/2007/…
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More from @JoshuaCypess

Joshua Cypess Profile picture
28 May
1/ What to do if an individual from a disempowered/persecuted/minority group says something is offensive to them, but you have a friend from the same group that said it was OK?

Do you believe your friend/acquaintance or the other person?
2/ First, this is not about your need to be the final arbiter. Outside of certain socially-established professions (judge, political rep), you haven't been given the authority to declare whether someone is right or wrong.

To think otherwise is arrogant, no? Who elected *you*?
3/ But as an individual, you have the responsibility to make your own decisions about right and wrong. A friend is someone whose bona-fides you know; ostensibly they will be honest with you. It's reasonable to trust a friend over a stranger.
Read 24 tweets
Joshua Cypess Profile picture
28 May
1/ People tell me it's possible to be anti-Zionist (AZ) and not antisemitic (AS). Ethical AZ would avoid any hint of AS.

Things you should know to avoid this hatred: (a) AS is a root conspiracy theory that demonizes Jews by attributing them superhuman evil power.
2/ Demonizing is more than "dehumanizing" - which itself leads to ignoring pain (see: racist treatment of Black patients in US health care). Rather, a "demon" is an unstoppable and uniquely evil enemy that requires extraordinary measures to bring them down by any means.
3/ AS is a seductive conspiracy theory because it becomes a simple answer to everything wrong with the world: people who can look like anybody yet, as demons, control everything in their favor.
See: scientificamerican.com/article/people… &
theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
Read 22 tweets
Joshua Cypess Profile picture
23 May
1/ My "news bias" thread generated a relevant, footnote style, discussion. In it, I expand further on variation within bias. I'm putting the discussion into a thread for easier reading.

It started with this question:
2/ My response:
3/ Picked up and responded to by Prof. Goldberg of Bar Ilan (who forwarded the thread, prompting the OP)

Read 24 tweets
Joshua Cypess Profile picture
23 May
45.01/ Week Forty-five, May 22-28 2021, begins here.

Week 44 below:
45.02/ Re-upping this thread from Friday about journalism and why the NYT can be seen as biased vs. Arabs & Israelis.

45.03/ I just wrote up a follow-up to the above thread that goes deeper into my social-scientific (data-poor, sorry) analysis of the American perception of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Read 43 tweets
Joshua Cypess Profile picture
21 May
1/ Thread on journalistic bias.

The linked thread by an MIT undergrad makes a data-rich claim that the NYT is biased in favor of Israel and against the Palestinians.

This intrigued me because it's axiomatic in Jewish circles to believe the opposite.
2/ I'm not going to comment on her work - her preferred framing for Israel is from <https://decolonizepalestine-com> which is both non-academic & reads like an opposite-day Arutz7 - because it's beside the point. Bottom line: her fellow partisans feel the NYT is against them.
3/ While I would decry any respectable journalist to sound like a universalized Arutz7/FoxNews, I would claim that journalism should be held to a similar standard I apply to social science: it should be seen as accurate to the subjects of the story.
Read 35 tweets
Joshua Cypess Profile picture
16 May
1/ #ReshetKeshet

I've been dwelling on the concept of 'fear' recently, specifically as it relates to my religious community and COVID, but it has application to all areas of morality as well as civic life.
2/ In Jewish ethics, we talk about being "Yirat Cheit" which translates into "Fearing Sin" and "Yirat Shamayim" which translates into "Fearing Heaven"

They are related but not equivalent. But fearing sin is the minimum to be considered reliably religious according to Jewish law.
3/ "Fear of Sin" generally means the lowest minimum acceptable level of religious observance because that kind of person doesn't buy into the ideology, doesn't understand the purpose of the system, but will still follow the rules before they fear the consequences.
Read 45 tweets

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