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Reuters Chief and Foreign Press Head Abuses Position, Expresses Open Disdain for Israel
Article Courtesy: HonestReporting.com
Illustrative Photo of Jerusalem Credit: RonAlmog [License]
Luke Baker, a man who openly expresses disdain and dislike for Israel is the Jerusalem bureau chief of Reuters, one of the world’s largest news services. He is also the outgoing chairperson of Israel’s Foreign Press Association (FPA).
Baker’s behavior on Twitter has given a window into his personal views, and those views are not at all impartial when it comes to Israel.
On the contrary, Baker’s tweets have been mocking, sarcastic, negative, and dismissive with regard to Israel and only with regard to Israel. Based on HonestReporting’s research, Baker has rarely, if ever, demonstrated such behavior or views toward Palestinians or toward any other party in the world.
Is this even allowed?
No.
The Reuters Handbook of Journalism states:
“Everything we do as Reuters journalists has to be independent, free from bias and executed with the utmost integrity. These are our core values and stem from the Reuters Trust Principles.
Furthermore, “The 10 Absolutes of Reuters Journalism” includes that a Reuters journalist must “Always strive for balance and freedom from bias” and “Always guard against putting their opinion in a news story.”
The Handbook goes on to say that “a Reuters journalist shows integrity, impartiality, persistence, accountability and humility,” and Reuters reiterates in several places the importance of impartiality and freedom from bias.
But can’t a journalist express biased personal views in his private time on social media?
No.
As stated in the Reuters Handbook, “whether for the file or online, we are guided 24 hours a day by the ethics of our organization as embodied in the Code of Conduct” and the rules specifically prohibit “flame wars, incendiary rhetoric and loose talk.”
So what did Luke Baker actually say?
Aside from routinely omitting critical context and basic fairness, Luke Baker frequently speaks about Israel in language that is beyond unprofessional, but actually demeaning, flippant and insulting, including:
– referring to Israeli security as “idiocy“;
– calling certain political groups “Jewish nutjobs“;
– calling an Israeli Foreign Ministry video “bizarre“;
– referring to criticism by Israeli diplomats as “mocking“;
– in a serious article, respected Arab-Israeli journalist Khaled Abu Toameh criticized certain ignorant and biased behaviors toward Israel by foreign press. Baker described the content of Abu Toameh’s article as “a joke” and comprised of “silly anecdote[s]“; and
– in a blatant perpetuation of racial and religious stereotypes, Baker referred to a statement by Israel to the high court as “chutzpah.” (The Reuters Handbook also says, “Do not use language that perpetuates sexual, racial, religious or other stereotypes. Such language is offensive, out of date and often simply inaccurate.”)
Indeed, Baker’s language with respect to Israel is offensive, out of date and often simply inaccurate, exactly in the manner proscribed by Reuters’ own rules. By contrast, Baker goes to surreal lengths to speak positively about Palestinian groups.
For example, not only could we not find similarly derisive and insulting comments about any Palestinian group, but when Baker was actually detained by the Hamas terror organization, he said on Twitter that he was, “Briefly taken in for polite questions.”
Luke Baker behaved in a biased and deceitful manner before the Israeli Knesset.
As if Luke Baker’s cavalier attitude toward impartiality wasn’t enough, there is also his disdain for legitimate media monitoring, and his duplicity in front of the Israeli Knesset:
On Feb 9, 2016, foreign journalists appeared before a Knesset panel that wanted to hear what reporters had to say about media bias against Israel. Tzipi Livni, head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee’s sub-committee, said the session was called in response to a particularly shocking CBS News headline that had accused Israeli forces of killing Palestinians without mentioning that those Palestinians were carrying out a terror attack at the time. On hand were The Media Line, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel, among others.
