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Typical of the allegations made against CAMERA are the those put by Journalist and author Robert I. Friedman - "CAMERA, the A.D.L., AIPAC and the rest of the lobby don't want fairness, but bias in their favor. And they are prepared According to use McCarthyite tacticsits Executive Director, as well as the power and money of prowhat sets it apart from other media watch-Israel PACsdog groups is its "sizable paying, to get whatever Israel wantsactivist membership."<ref>Robert I[http://www. Friedman, "The lobby: Jewish political power and American foreign policy", ''The Nation'', June 6, 1987, page 244jcpa.<org/phas/ref>phas-33.htm]
According CAMERA is widely regarded as a pro-Israeli lobby group that as put by Journalist and author Robert I. Friedman - "CAMERA, the A.D.L., AIPAC and the rest of the lobby don't want fairness, but bias in their favor. And they are prepared to its Executive Directoruse McCarthyite tactics, what sets it apart from other media watchas well as the power and money of pro-dog groups is its "sizable payingIsrael PACs, activist membershipto get whatever Israel wants."<ref>[http://wwwRobert I.jcpa.org/phas/phas-33.htm CAMERAFriedman, "The lobby: Fighting Distorted Media Coverage of Israel Jewish political power and the Middle East] An Interview with Andrea Levin. Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs 1 American foreign policy", ''The Nation'', June 20056, 1987, page 244.</ref>
Other targets of CAMERA include [[Robert Fisk]], [[Israel Shahak]], [[Edward Said]], [[Norman Finkelstein]], [[John Pilger]], [[Ilan Pappe]], [[Amira Hass]] and [[Gideon Levy]] and it has accused Israel's prominent daily [[Ha'aretz]] of fueling "anti-Israel bias."<ref>[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=6&x_article=171 Ha’aretz Fuels Anti-Israel Bias] "many of the opinion writers and some reporters espouse views of the extreme far left, and factual accuracy is often sacrificed to their political predilections" Haaretz August 6, 2001.</ref> A The following quote from the a CAMERA Student Fellow is typicalinstructive: "Is it true that Israel is not complying with [[U.N. resolution 242]], requiring withdrawal from the territories occupied in 1967? Not at all. ''The resolution does not actually specify particular territories or the extent of the withdrawal''". [http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=22&x_article=926] (emphasis added)
In 2005 ''Monographs published by CAMERA on Campus'' played a prominent role in the campaign are distributed to "correct" perceived abuses by the Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures (MEALAC) department at Columbia University, and ran interviews with one thousands of people among the chief crusaders, Prof. [[Alan Dershowitz]] of Harvard.<ref>[http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/1848 Academic Freedom public and Intimidation] Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) March 31, 2005elected officials".</ref>
The '''Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA)''' is a powerful Boston-based [[lobby group]] aiming that tries to curb criticism of [[Israel]] in the U.S. (and other) [[media]].
Founded by [[Charles Jacobs]] in the wake of Israel's 1982 invasion of [[Lebanon]], CAMERA claims to be "a media-monitoring, research and membership organization devoted to promoting accurate and balanced coverage of Israel and the Middle East". According to its website, it "systematically monitors, documents, reviews and archives Middle East coverage" and its staffers "directly contact reporters, editors, producers and publishers concerning distorted or inaccurate coverage, offering factual information to refute errors."<ref>[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=24 Founded in 1982, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting] in America is a media-monitoring, research and membership organization devoted to promoting accurate and balanced coverage of Israel and the Middle East.</ref>
==Wikipedia campaign==
In April 2008, the website [[Electronic Intifada]] published emails sent to a group of CAMERA members organized to impact the online encyclopedia [[Wikipedia]]'s coverage of Israel and [[Palestine]] issues. Electronic Intifada claimed that in the emails, CAMERA Senior Research Analyst [[Gilead Ini]] stressed the effort should be secret, and counseled members to avoid "picking a user name that marks you as pro-Israel, or that lets people know your real name." Wikipedia, too, tells users: "You should strongly consider choosing a username that is not connected to you." He also instructed members to "always log in" under their user names, so that Wikipedia would not "record your computer's IP address."<ref name="login">[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&type=signup&returnto=Main_Page Wikipedia login page] "always log in" under their user names, so that Wikipedia would not "record your computer's IP address."</ref> While directing CAMERA members to certain articles on Israel and Palestine, Ini cautioned that new Wikipedia users should "avoid editing Israel-related articles for a short period of time," so as not to develop reputations as "one-topic editors." <ref name="Wikipedia">"[http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9474.shtml EI exclusive: a pro-Israel group's plan to rewrite history on Wikipedia]," Electronic Intifada, April 21, 2008.</ref>
Ini has also publicly called on people to edit Wikipedia, suggesting that "is that if more fair-minded people participate in the Wikipedia experiment, the problems can be minimized."<ref>"[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=118&x_article=1485 How and Why to Edit Wikipedia," Gilead Ini, camera.org, 5/3/08].</ref> Ini asserted in the Jewish Exponent that the initiative was meant to "offset" problems with Wikipedia's articles. "Convinced that directing more well-intentioned individuals to participate in the Wikipedia experiment could help offset the site’s problems," he wrote, "we sent a notice to our members calling for volunteers to learn about and edit Wikipedia’s often-skewed entries about the Middle East."<ref>"[http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/16372 Wikipedia: World Wide Web's Wild, Wild West of Inaccuracy," Gilead Ini, Jewish Exponent, June 12, 2008].</ref> He charged Electronic Intifada with "disingenuously spinning [an online discussion forum] as a nefarious plot" in a letter to Harper's Magazine, and added that "CAMERA repeatedly urged all who read the forum to follow Wikipedia's guidelines, and continues to urge all who visit our website to work toward improving the flawed Wikipedia experiment."<ref>"[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=5&x_outlet=196&x_article=1525 CAMERA Letter in Harper's Magazine About Wikipedia Issues," 8/14/2008.]</ref>
:We learned how to effectively respond to an inaccurate or unfair article about Israel with a letter-to-the-editor or an Op-Ed piece. Also, if an article contains a factual error, students should gather the information needed to document the error, and then press the editors for a correction. If bias is chronic at a particular paper, encourage university administrators to fund a new newspaper with higher editorial standards.
:We also discussed strategies for dealing with anti-Israel professors. If a professor attempts to silence your views in the classroom, seek administrative assistance. If that fails, press for accountability by publicizing the problem.[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=22&x_article=926 NPR Unrelenting in Anti-Israel Bias] National Public Radio's hostility toward Israel and willingness to bend facts and journalistic norms in presenting that nation as morally reprehensible and unreasonable are well known. But recent broadcasts offer a particularly sharp view of NPR's reflexive enmity and disregard for journalistic ethics. April 25, 2000.</ref>
==Campaigns==
CAMERA's website has an extensive database of journalists (many of them Israelis) that it has focused on over the years.<ref>[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=6 CAMERA Listing of 520 journalists] of interest(including many prominent Israelis). CAMERA.</ref>
In one of its media alerts, CAMERA describes Israel's acclaimed historian [[Benny Morris]] as a "fabricator."<ref>[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=8&x_nameinnews=169&x_article=280 NPR]. Its other targets include [[Robert Fisk]], [[Israel Shahak]], [[Edward Said]], [[Norman Finkelstein]], [[John Pilger]], [[Ilan Pappe]], [[Amira Hass]] and [[Gideon Levy]], and has even accused Israel's Special Biasprominent daily [[Ha'aretz] National Public Radio, the taxpayer funded radio network known for its flagrant pro] of fueling "anti-Palestinian Israel bias. September 30, 2002" [http://www.camera.<org/ref> despite other sources calling him right wingindex.{{fact}}asp?x_context=6&x_article=171#hass]
In a May 7, 2002, full-page ad in the ''New York Times'', CAMERA criticized the media for their lack of understanding of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Palestinian violence was attributed not to the occupation or alleged atrocities of the occupying army, but instead to the "hate education" in Palestinian society. <ref>''The New York Observer'', May 13, 2002.</ref>
Responding to CAMERA's criticisms of the "anti-Israel" bias in its Middle-East coverage, the Executive Editor and Publisher of the the ''New York Times'' attended a journalism forum at the University of California in 2002. The editors of the right-wing ''New York Post'' noted with some consternation that the majority of the criticism that came their way was for exactly the opposite. (''New York Post'', November 22, 2002)
[[Ted Koppel]] has been taken to task for giving "twice the air time" to a whole group of critics on his ''Nightline'' as he did to the single supporter (''The Washington Times'', Oct 10, 1996). ==Sample stories== Typical of the stories run by CAMERA is this one (chosen almost at random, a current story in Nov 2011): "Ha'aretz Leads and AP Follows in Defaming Israel". This report concerns the seizure of Palestinian land within Israel, a follow up to the well known story that, even as far back as 2002, at least 42% of West Bank settlements were on stolen Palestinian land, a fact diligently unearthed by the Israeli group B'tselem<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/may/15/israel Israel has seized 42% of West Bank, report says] "built-up Jewish settlements cover only 1.7% of the West Bank ... Israel has secretly grabbed 42% of Palestinian land in the West Bank for illegal settlement activity, according to a new report. Guardian 15 May 2002.</ref><ref>[http://www.btselem.org/publications/summaries/201007_by_hook_and_by_crook By Hook and By Crook: Israeli Settlement Policy in the West Bank] Some half a million Israelis are now living over the Green Line: more than 300,000 in 121 settlements and about one hundred outposts, which control 42 percent of the land area of the West Bank. Guardian July 2010.</ref>. The report claims that the land in question had belonged to a neighbouring kibbutz and had not in fact been stolen from Palestinians. Readers convinced by this would presumably be further soothed by seeing: "To those who are curious about the other side's point of view, see here<ref>[http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/149927#.TtC_wlbojtk Exposé: False Media Report of Kibbutz’s ‘Palestinian’ Land] An Israel media report, picked up worldwide, claims Israel for the first time has given PA land to a kibbutz. Great story – but not true. Arutz Sheva 7 (IsraeliNationalNews) 20th Nov 2011.</ref>". However, the link used by CAMERA is actually to the news media<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/285610.stm Israel legalises religious pirate radios] "The bill was carefully worded to legalise Arutz 7 - Channel 7 - whilst keeping out other pirate stations" BBC 24th Feb 1999.</ref> of the extreme and violent{{fact}} West Bank settlers. CAMERA's source, Arutz Sheva sees itself as "the only independent national radio station in Israel" and a counterbalance to "'negative thinking' and 'post-Zionist' attitudes." Based in Beit El, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, Arutz Sheva, is regarded as the voice of the Israeli settlement movement.<ref>[http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Politics/2886.htm After court convicts Arutz-7 of illegal broadcasting, station goes off air] Israelinsider 2003-10-21.</ref>
==Measuring success==
===CAMERA on Campus===
[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=22 ''CAMERA on Campus''] is an arm and a publication of CAMERA that seeks tries to silence criticism (in the guise of "correct monitor perceived inaccuracies about Israel") on the campuses of various American institutions. The organization also distributes "tens of thousands of copies" of its the publication "three times per year to more than 400 campuses in North America".<ref>[http://www.jcpa.org/phas/phas-33.htm ] In 2005 ''CAMERA: Fighting Distorted Media Coverage of Israel and on Campus'' played a prominent role in the campaign to publicize perceived abuses by the Middle East] An Interview and Asian Languages and Cultures (MEALAC) department at Columbia University, and even ran interviews with Andrea Levinone of the chief crusaders, CAMERA is a leader in the field Prof. [[Alan Dershowitz]] of proHarvard [http://www.campus-Israeli media watchingwatch. It has 55org/article/id/1848], who himself was busy fending off accusations of plagiarizing Joan Peter's 1984 hoax [[From Time Immemorial]] [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/09/24/1730205][http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn09262003.html],000 paying members and thousands of active letter writerstrying to suppress [[Norman Finkelstein]]'s book in which the charge has been thoroughly documented.[http://www. 1 June 2005normanfinkelstein.<com/ref> article.php?pg=4&ar=1]
==CAMERA on AudioPort==
