Let’s be blunt: MEMRI is exactly what the American government accuses al Jazeera of being (but which it isn’t): a biased, partisan platform for incitement that intentionally and maliciously distorts reality to make its enemies look bad. That’s all.
By the way, did you know that Arab viewers had to turn to al Jazeera to watch President Bush’s live press conference the other day? Al Hurra didn’t cover it. Al Jazeera did.
I’ve been subscribed to the MEMRI dispatches for about a week now and I have to say that most criticisms I’ve read about them seem to be warranted. I’ve been reading Abu Aardvark for headlines and information on Muslim and Arab media reporting for a little longer and by and large MEMRI does seem to only send out negative stories by the press they cover.
Of course, MEMRI was founded by members of Israeli intelligence… so it’s not exactly shocking that they’re biased. The Guardian did an investigative report on MEMRI and concluded something similar. MEMRI also responded to the article. Wikipedia has an interesting entry, as does Disinfopedia.
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