Al Jazeera: fair and balanced

Lateline, the ABC late evening news flagship carries a report from Matt Brown in Lebanon under the headline; UN condemns Israeli offensive

MATT BROWN: Almost every night these southern suburbs of Beirut have been under attack. Now, rubble piles on rubble. The families are gone, but the signs of their ordinary lives are still here to see. On a tour of this former Hezbollah stronghold, UN humanitarian relief coordinator Jan Egeland called for Israel and Hezbollah to stop the fighting. He also condemned the Israeli bombing campaign that’s reduced this suburb to rubble. JAN EGELAND, UN HUMANITARIAN RELIEF COORDINATOR: And I would say that this seems to be an excessive use of force in an area with so many civilians. REPORTER: If it’s an excessive use of force that makes it a war crime?

I could see Matt almost pleading with Egeland to agree and say ‘yes, it does make it a war crime’ but he didn’t and in an obvious case of very selective reporting Matt Brown didn’t mention any other comments attributable to Egeland during his visit to Lebanon. However AL Jazeera does. They report Egeland in full under the headline; Hezbollah blamed for civilian deaths

Egeland was speaking to reporters at the Larnaca airport in Cyprus late Monday after a visit to Lebanon on his mission to coordinate an international aid effort. During that visit he condemned the killing and wounding of civilians by both sides, and called Israel’s offensive “disproportionate” and “a violation of international humanitarian law.”

He also addressed the root causes of civilian casualties

[He].. accused Hezbollah of “cowardly blending” among Lebanese civilians and causing the deaths of hundreds during two weeks of cross-border violence with Israel. The militant group has built bunkers and tunnels near the Israeli border to shelter weapons and fighters, and its members easily blend in among civilians.

More balance at Al Jazeera than at the ABC…amazing!