9/24/09: HuffPost's blackout of Netanyahu's blockbuster speech at the U.N.

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As we've documented in detail, HuffPost consistently presents news concerning Israel in ways that depict the Jewish state, and particularly its political leadership and military, in an unfairly negative light. HuffPost routinely runs every inflammatory crackpot allegation against Israel by groups and individuals with demonstrable biases --- often prominently on its front page, and as "teasers" atop story pages.

Nowhere has HuffPost's bias been demonstrated more vividly, however, than in the way that it depicts Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Prime Minister, in words and pictures.

But given the chance to present a balanced account of Netanyahu and a raving Islamist tyrant at the UN, HuffPost even surprised us --- and at this point, that ain't easy.

On September 23, 2009, two notable individuals gave speeches at the United Nations: Netanyahu, and Moammar Gaddafi, the madman tyrant of Libya.

Netanyahu gave a passionate, fact-based, point-by-point rebuttal to the most egregious libels to which the State of Israel, its military, and the Jewish people in general, have been subjected in recent years. His speech was widely hailed as a blockbuster, no-holds-barred defense against anti-Israel propagandists. Here is part 1 of his speech:

Part 2 is here, part 3 here, part 4 here. (H/T Powerline)


Gaddafi, despite being allotted only 15 minutes, went on a 95-minute rant. To punctuate his insanity, Gaddafi even threw the U.N. Charter on the floor.

So, guess which speaker HuffPost featured just beneath its top story of the day, asking whether or not he raised "valid points" --- and which it refused to even acknowledge the existence of? Need we ask?

On September 24, just beneath the top story of the day, HuffPost featured this "story" about Gaddafi --- and actually asked if he made "valid points":

"Gaddafi UN Speech: 5 Arguments Inside His Rant
Does he make valid points? Or all hogwash?"

HuffPost gave the Gaddafi "story" similarly prominent treatment on its World page:


Where is the story on Netanyahu on September 24, you may ask? Nowhere.

HuffPost completely, totally ignored Netanyahu's speech at the U.N.

It did, however, decide that "news" stories such as "Dogs in crazy outfits" and "Save the boobs" were far more important for its global audience to be aware of.

Here's a sampling of the "news" stories that HuffPost choose to run, instead of even mentioning Netanyahu's speech (screen captures below were all obtained on September 24):

• "Meredith Vieira kicked Matt Lauer in the peppercorns"?

• "Dogs in crazy outfits"?

• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees?

• "Bikini baristas' lewd behavior leads to arrests"?

• Victoria Gotti: "My dad was a killer"?

• "Save the boobs"?
  

Do you want more proof of HuffPost's blackout of the Netanyahu speech? Here you go.

On September 25, we did a search on HuffPost's internal search engine, using the query "Netanyahu." The results showed that the most recent article on HuffPost concerning Netanyahu was on June 4, 2009 --- more than three months earlier:



Want even more proof? Here you go.

We did a follow up search via the same method on September 27. The results were exactly the same --- proving that for at least the next three days, HuffPost refused to even acknowledge Netanyahu's speech:


So what kinds of "news" stories did HuffPost opt to cover on September 27, instead of Netanyahu's speech, on its front page?

Would you believe...

• Joy Behar slams Glenn Beck?
  
  
• New SNL'er drops "F-bomb" during debut?
  
  
• Mary Louise-Parker has a new boyfriend?
  
  
• Which couples have the most chemistry with the Obamas?
  
  
• The top 10 questions to ask yourself before dropping $63,000 to dine with Sarah Palin?
  
  
• Who has the best chest in Hollywood?
  
  
• Michelle Obama walks Bo - guess what music she's listening to!
  
  

At a time like this, it's worth considering several things:

How HuffPost executives have repeatedly said that it is a nonpartisan news source, only interested in pursuing "the truth... consequences be damned," covering news in a "21st-century way," with "new ideas about balance and fairness" (here)

How Natan Sharansky points out that these acts and omissions are actually facets of anti-Semitism, in his article "Seeing Anti-Semitism in 3D"

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