May 14, 2002, 12:30 p.m.
Undercover Photographer
L.A. Times staffer Carolyn Cole crosses a line, again.
By Andrew Breitbart
ittle critical attention has been given to the recent antics of Los Angeles Times staff photographer Carolyn Cole, who on May 2 joined a group of "peace activists" who had clandestinely entered Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, in solidarity with the Palestinian militants holding dozens of civilians and clergymen hostage.
Upon her arrival inside the holy site, Cole took on the dual role of photographer and reporter for the Times, offering first-person accounts from within the church.
The Times, often accused of carrying an anti-Israeli grudge, confirmed many of its critics' suspicions by printing Cole's blatantly pro-Palestinian church dispatches. Cole even noted that she felt safer with the Palestinian militants than she did with the Israelis. (A collection of her like-minded photos from inside the church appear in this week's Time.)
"The Palestinians in the church are a family of sorts," Cole wrote on May 9, sounding as if she had a case of Stockholm Syndrome. "Some are already planning a reunion — same time, next year… As the days drag on, many of them hold hands and stand with their arms around one another's shoulders. And they pace together along the sanctuary floor, fingering their prayer beads, hoping for a way out."
Unfortunately, Cole doesn't have Stockholm Syndrome — she wasn't so much a hostage as an enthusiastic volunteer. Something you can't say about the priests, who were never asked if they wanted to be holed up in the church for 39 days. As talk-radio host and author Hugh Hewitt noted, "Nowhere in the entire article, not even a single phrase, mentions that these priests are hostages. Their captors are described in glowing and even gentle detail. There is nothing of reporting about this at all. It is, quite simply, propaganda."
But this isn't the first time Cole has stepped over a professional line in her career. In April 2000 — at the height of the Elián Gonzalez affair — Cole was arrested on felony charges of "throwing deadly missiles" at police during protests in Little Havana, apparently in an effort to stir up her subjects and thereby generate "better" news.
Miami detective Delrish Moss said Cole "was seen throwing two or three rocks and then picked up her camera and proceeded to take photographs."
Michael Parks, her boss at the Times, said in a statement that her arrest was "an abridgment of the people's right to know."
"Carolyn Cole was covering the protests in Miami as a news photographer, not participating in them, and her photographs published in the Times make that clear," Parks insisted.
Of course, Ms. Cole would never overstep the law nor defy journalistic principles to get a story. And there's no way that she held the anti-Castro crowd in contempt and wanted to create shots that would portray them in the most frenzied and violent light.
The Zelig-like Cole also garnered national attention in 1997 for gaining access to Emil Matasareanu as he lay dying on a North Hollywood street after his outrageous, nationally televised post-bank-robbery shootout with police, which left 11 officers and six civilians injured. In Cole's version of events, Matasareanu was a victim of heartless law-enforcement officials who didn't respond quickly enough to his medical needs. Her account, which she conveyed to Times reporter Bill Boyarsky, became a part of the wrongful-death lawsuit leveled by Matasareanu's family.
Who knows? Cole might well win a Pulitzer for the grit and determination she exhibited in Bethlehem. And since Israeli officials say she faces possible charges and deportation for her acts, even that is likely to become a point in her favor.
— Andrew Breitbart is a writer based in Los Angeles.
