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Dear Associated Press,
Facebook Post ^ | May 16, 2021 | Fern Reiss

Posted on 05/16/2021 10:29:14 AM PDT by silent majority rising

Dear Associated Press, 

I understand that you’re upset because Israel gave you only a ONE HOUR WARNING to vacate the building you shared with Hamas.  (And then they wouldn’t give you ten more minutes to go up and get more stuff. The importance of careful packing!)

Your headline was “Shocking and horrifying: Israel destroys AP office in Gaza.”

I’m a little shocked and horrified myself, but not for the same reason. I see that, in paragraph three of your piece, you did get around to mentioning *why* Israel took down your building - it also housed Hamas military intelligence! (It’s so hard to know who the neighbors are, in these large, impersonal buildings.) 

A few thoughts:  * Of course, the fact that you shared  your building with Hamas terrorists wasn’t very important compared to all the other things in your busy article:  The fact that AP made “repeated urgent calls” to the Israeli military to “halt the impending attack;” that 12 AP staffers were “working and resting” in the offices when the Israeli military telephoned a warning, giving occupants of the building one hour to evacuate; that no one was hurt but that the office was a second home for your AP journalists; that this marked a “new chapter in the already rocky relationship between the Israeli military and the international media;” and that “press-freedom groups condemned the attack.”

* I’m very glad that, as you note, “Everyone was able to get out, grabbing a few belongings, before three heavy missiles struck the 12-story building, collapsing it into a giant cloud of dust.” 

It might have been more clear, had you said: “BECAUSE OF THE ADVANCE NOTICE FROM ISRAEL, everyone was able to get out, grabbing a few belongings, before three heavy missiles struck the building AN HOUR LATER, collapsing it into a giant cloud of dust.” 

(Though “collapsing it into a giant cloud of dust” seems a little dramatic for news writing.)

Just so you know: Israeli civilians only get a 15 to 90 second warning before the missile hits, not a full HOUR to evacuate. Israel advance-warns Gazan buildings to prevent civilian casualties, but Hamas doesn’t seem to think the reverse is necessary.

* Your emphasis seems a little askew: “Although no one was hurt, the air strike demolished an office that was like a second home for AP journalists.” (“Although Lincoln was killed, the theatre performance was really well-done.”) 

* Of course you do get around to the Hamas neighbors in paragraph three. You say: “Press-freedom groups accused the (Israeli) military, which claimed the building housed Hamas military intelligence, of trying to censor coverage of Israel’s relentless offensive against Hamas militants.”

You sort of buried the lede (sic) there about how the building housed Hamas military intelligence. 

But the end of that sentence is really clear: “censor coverage of Israel’s relentless offensive against Hamas militants.” 

Not only do you portray Israel as the aggressor here - it is not only Israel’s “offensive” (presumably you see Hamas as playing defense), but it’s Israel’s “relentless” offensive in “censoring” coverage. And it’s not an offensive against Hamas *terrorists* - it’s against Hamas “militants.”  Masterfully done: It’s completely clear which side AP is on!

* Your next paragraph is about how you placed urgent calls to the Israeli military, foreign minister and prime minister’s office, to try to cancel the demolition. 

Sorry. 

Hamas launched over 2,500 missiles at Israeli population centers. Israel is probably a little busy just now to take your call. 

* Then the article quotes AP CEO Gary Pruitt, who says: “We have had no indication Hamas was in the building or active in the building… This is something we actively check to the best of our ability. We would never knowingly put our journalists at risk.”

Yikes. 

I can totally see how it might be embarrassing for a major journalistic outlet like AP to have had no inkling that they’re sharing the building with the intelligence arm of the ruling Hamas terrorist government, especially after all that active checking. 

(Gary, next time, throw a building party so people can introduce themselves.)

AP: “We would never knowingly put our journalists at risk.” 

It’s good to know that you don’t knowingly put your journalists at risk (though asking for an extra ten minutes right before a building demolition might have been seen by some as just a little risky.)

* Pruitt added: “We narrowly avoided a terrible loss of life.” 

Feel free to add: “THANKS TO ISRAEL’S ONE-HOUR WARNING.” (No need to send a fruit basket.)

* The article goes on to chronicle the hardships of the AP reporters: “For AP journalists, it was a difficult moment. Most of the AP staff has been sleeping in the bureau, which includes four bedrooms in an upstairs apartment, throughout the current round of fighting…” 

Since much of Israel has been fleeing to bomb shelters; and since Hamas doesn’t supply shelters  to Gazan civilians, because that money is spent on missiles, the AP offices might sound pretty cushy. But clearly we have to weigh all those Israeli and Gazan civilian lives against the comfort and convenience of the AP staff. 

* The article continues: “In a territory crippled by an Israeli-Egyptian blockade, (the AP office) was equipped with a generator that offered the rare comforts of electricity, air conditioning, and running water.”

Thank you for giving Israel top billing here, it’s nice that you mentioned it’s also an Egyptian blockade: AP articles so often seem to forget this. A few words of context here would have perhaps been helpful: Maybe something like, “a blockade necessitated because of HAMAS’S VOW TO ELIMINATE ISRAEL, AS STATED IN THE HAMAS CHARTER, AND THEIR CONTINUAL SMUGGLING OF IRANIAN WEAPONRY FOR USE IN KILLING ISRAELI CIVILIANS.”

Also: It seems AP doesn’t realize that ISRAEL supplies a not-inconsiderable amount of Gaza’s electric and water. This week, though, many of Hamas’s rockets mis-fired and took down Gazan electric lines, so the Gazan civilians have less power than usual. (Also at least 20% of the Gazan civilian deaths are apparently due to Hamas’ carelessness with their missiles. Maybe AP could do an article on that next?)

* A few paragraphs later: “Early Sunday, Hamas fired a heavy barrage of rockets at the metropolis of Tel Aviv, saying it was revenge for flattening the high-rise building.” Again, your article might be more clear with some context, like: “NEEDLESS TO SAY, HAMAS DID NOT WARN ISRAELI CIVILIANS ONE HOUR BEFORE.”

Finally, nowhere does your article mention AP’s position on the Hamas policy of using journalists (and schools, and hospitals, and humanitarian organizations, and the private homes of Gazan citizens) as human shields, to try to prevent Israeli reprisals on Hamas military infrastructure, a war crime. 

I could go on, but what’s the point? Journalism ain’t what it used to be. And it may be too much to expect anyone to do a credible reporting job in a country where there can’t be a free press, because Hamas points guns at heads. 

(AP, at least you’re probably not paying rent to the terrorists anymore.)

So very sorry about your building.


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: allpropaganda; apepee; apterroristnews; apterrorists; associatedpress; associatedterrorists; garypruitt; gaza; hamas; hamashqdestroyed; iran; israel; jihadists; mediawingofthednc; partisanmediashill; partisanmediashills; waronterror
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To: silent majority rising
Very well written commentary on AP, terrorism, and the corruption of Journalistic privilege
21 posted on 05/16/2021 11:05:10 AM PDT by af_vet_1981 (The bus came by and I got on, That's when it all began)
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To: Responsibility2nd

Exactly. AP wouldn’t be mouth piecing Hamas propaganda would they? It seems like these big news outlets specialize in blowing the horn for intelligence agencies - AP, WaPo, NYT.


22 posted on 05/16/2021 11:05:31 AM PDT by virgil (The evil that men do lives after them )
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To: silent majority rising; a fool in paradise; acapesket; Baynative; beef; BullDog108; Califreak; ...
This is the Farcebook Is Evil ping list.

NEW: Van Morrison song, "Why Are You On Facebook?". h/t a fool in paradise


h/t pookie18's cartoons

Facebook is a perfect example of socialism:
You get it for free but the quality sucks.
You have no say in how it works.
The guy who runs it gets rich.
There's no real competition.
You have no privacy.
And if you say one thing they don't like
they'll shut you up.

If you'd like to be on or off this list, please click Private Reply below and drop me a FReepmail

23 posted on 05/16/2021 11:21:14 AM PDT by upchuck (Corporations don’t pay taxes. They collect them. From us. ~ h/t Little Ray)
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To: Truthoverpower

My brother refers to them as “osh kanots”?. Sorous and Rockefellers and Schumer to name some


24 posted on 05/16/2021 11:30:18 AM PDT by Donnafrflorida (Thru Him all things are possible.)
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To: FatherofFive

“lede does not deserve a (sic)”

Maybe it’s an editorial comment.

Spelling lead lede has always seemed strange to me.

Like an affectation.


25 posted on 05/16/2021 11:37:41 AM PDT by ifinnegan ( Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: ifinnegan
Spelling lead lede has always seemed strange to me.

Lede is not the same as Lead. A different word. Lede has a specific meaning in publishing.

26 posted on 05/16/2021 11:43:56 AM PDT by FatherofFive (We support Trump. Not the GOP)
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To: FatherofFive

“Lede is not the same as Lead. A different word. Lede has a specific meaning in publishing.”

No. It is purely an alternative spelling that came in to usage in the 1970’s.


27 posted on 05/16/2021 12:02:58 PM PDT by ifinnegan ( Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: silent majority rising

Gaza should house AP’s executive suites.


28 posted on 05/16/2021 12:34:50 PM PDT by StAnDeliver (Eric Coomer of Dominion Voting Systems Is The Blue Dress)
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To: StAnDeliver

AP=All Propaganda


29 posted on 05/16/2021 12:57:11 PM PDT by hoosierham (Freedom isn't free)
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To: Mr. Mojo

I guess Gary Pruitt is in the running for this years “Dumber Than A Fence Post” award.


30 posted on 05/16/2021 2:15:22 PM PDT by RetiredTexasVet (Corrupt Slow Joe Biden is the Bolshevik sock puppet.)
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To: ifinnegan
No. It is purely an alternative spelling that came in to usage in the 1970’s.

If you consult a dictionary, you will see you are not correct. Yes, it is a modern adaption of an old English word, but it has a specific meaning in the publishing world.

31 posted on 05/16/2021 5:10:23 PM PDT by FatherofFive (We support Trump. Not the GOP)
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To: FatherofFive

I did consult a dictionary to find that out.

Everything is an adaptation of an old English word.

Lede is obsolete now to differentiate it from printing equipment which is no longer used.

It’s an affectation.


32 posted on 05/16/2021 5:22:42 PM PDT by ifinnegan ( Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: ifinnegan
lede
[lēd]
NOUN
US
the opening sentence or paragraph of a news article, summarizing the most important aspects of the story. "the lede has been rewritten and the headline changed"
https://www.bing.com/search?q=lede&form=ANNTH1&refig=bb39b1f59bd54c5f8c6c10fa8b555421&sp=1&qs=LS&pq=lede&sc=8-4&cvid=bb39b1f59bd54c5f8c6c10fa8b555421

lede noun
Definition of lede
: the introductory section of a news story that is intended to entice the reader to read the full story
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lede

You can believe what you want. Truth over facts

33 posted on 05/16/2021 5:38:03 PM PDT by FatherofFive (We support Trump. Not the GOP)
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To: FatherofFive

It’s an alternate spelling of lead, adopted in the 70’s.


34 posted on 05/16/2021 6:52:42 PM PDT by ifinnegan ( Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: FatherofFive

Read this.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/bury-the-lede-versus-lead

Lede is pretentious and smarmy and completely unnecessary today.


35 posted on 05/16/2021 6:55:57 PM PDT by ifinnegan ( Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: silent majority rising

Of course, Biden supports AP, not Israel.


36 posted on 05/17/2021 2:05:24 AM PDT by NetAddicted (Just looking)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; ...

37 posted on 05/17/2021 7:50:13 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: ifinnegan
Lede is pretentious and smarmy and completely unnecessary today.

In your opinion. I get it. You don't like the word lede. But it is a word with a specific meaning.

Get over it.

38 posted on 05/17/2021 7:56:40 AM PDT by FatherofFive (We support Trump. Not the GOP)
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To: FatherofFive

Did you work in the news business or something?


39 posted on 05/17/2021 11:08:39 AM PDT by ifinnegan ( Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: ifinnegan
Did you work in the news business or something?

No.

40 posted on 05/17/2021 11:55:54 AM PDT by FatherofFive (We support Trump. Not the GOP)
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