Claim of bias

Congratulations for publishing the excellent and revealing “‘The New York Times’ accuses again” (Media Comment, August 4), about the way that newspaper distorts Israel by using biased editorial material in its news sections. However, it seems to me that The Jerusalem Post is doing the identical thing.

Religious affairs correspondent Jeremy Sharon writes news articles that represent editorial content denigrating the Orthodox Jewish position. As many as three such articles appear in a single days. They present a one-sided, antagonistic view without even attempting to present the Orthodox viewpoint.

I have not been able to find even one article by Sharon that presents any positive aspects of religious life. He also uses the same pejorative words, such as “fanatic,” “extremist” and “incite,” which belong only in editorial content.

Let us not make a New York Times out of The Jerusalem Post.

AVIGDOR LEV-TZION

Jerusalem Jeremy Sharon responds: Derogatory terms such “fanatic” and “extremist” are never used in a news item unless they appear as quotes made by people associated with a story. There have been numerous incidents of late in which public figures have made controversial comments, while contentious legislation has been advanced that has drawn criticism from several quarters, including the attorney general and even members of the coalition. The news media will always cover such criticism, regardless of their frequency.