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DP correspondence

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By Jon Sutz, Editor, SaveTheWest.com

A supplement to Virginia newspaper engages in anti-Semitic, jihad-whitewashing bias.


My email inquiry

The following is the entire email I sent to the editor of the Daily Progress, Nicholas Mathews, on October 26, 2015 (screencap):

Dear Mr. Mathews:

I am the editor of the website www.savethewest.com, and a resident of Albemarle County.  One of my areas of interest is how the news media employs bias in order to advance erroneous perceptions about important issues regarding national security, cultural conflicts, etc.  My work in this regard has focused almost exclusively on national and international news media organizations.  But something on October 18 in the Daily Progress caught my eye, that upon investigation I’ve decided is so concerning, that I am developing a report for SaveTheWest on it.

Specifically, on October 18, in your Sunday news section, I saw the attached (JPG) story – which claimed “5 attacked in latest violence; In month-long violence, eight Israelis and 40 Palestinians have died.”  Seeing that it was an AP story, and knowing its chronic bias in favor of Palestinians and against Israel and Jews, I assumed this was just another case of its whitewashing the reality, in order to obfuscate the difference between the terrorist and the terrorized, the murderer and the murdered.

But lo and behold, it turns out the AP played the story of these ongoing, murderous attacks by Palestinian Muslims on Jews, straight.  Here is the source article for your story, and the opening sentence – clearly indicating who was perpetrating the violence upon whom:

Israel: 4 Palestinian attackers shot dead in latest violence

Palestinian assailants carried out five stabbing attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank on Saturday, authorities said, as a month-long outburst of violence showed no signs of abating.

The Daily Progress’s first version of that story appeared with the following headline:

4 Palestinian attackers shot dead in latest violence

Yet note the pictorial that you chose to ran with it – a heart-wrenching tribute to the family of the Palestinian Muslim murderer, who was shot and killed before he could continue his crime spree.  And here’s the sidebar narrative that you ran:

A Palestinian woman cries after taking the last look at the body of Ehab Hanani, 19, who was fatally shot during clashes with Israeli troops last Thursday, during his funeral in the West Bank village of Beit Furik, on the outskirts of Nablus, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2015. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

The Daily Progress’s second version of that story appeared with the following headline:

Israel: 4 Palestinian attackers shot dead in latest violence

The sidebar picture caption copy this time read:

An Israeli border policeman stands on a hill overlooking Jerusalem’s Old City, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2015. Palestinian assailants carried out a series of five stabbing attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank on Saturday, as a month-long outburst of violence showed no signs of abating. The unrest came despite new security measures that have placed troops and checkpoints around Palestinian neighborhoods in east Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

The Daily Progress’s third version of that story appeared with the following headline – as it did in your Sunday print edition (JPG attached):

“5 attacked in latest violence; In month-long violence, eight Israelis and 40 Palestinians have died.”

My questions are:

(1) Why did the Daily Progress go through so many version of the same story, with the same core, opening copy, which so clearly indicates who was perpetrating violence upon whom?

(2) Why did the Daily Progress decide to present such an in-depth pictorial tribute to the family of the Palestinian Muslim murderer – but did nothing to depict the families and survivors of any of the Jewish victims?

(3) Why did the Daily Progress then decide to whitewash the headline it was provided by the AP, which accurately depicts what happened, and instead present it as if it were a sort of tit-for-tat, clash of street gangs?  For example, “5 attacked in latest violence” – who was attacked, and by whom?  Just reading that (whitewashed) headline your paper wrote, no one would know.

(4) Why did the Daily Progress falsely claim that people, most notably, the victims, “died” in these attacks?  None of these people “died.”  These Israeli Jews were murdered in hideously violent fashion, because they were Jews.  Because the “government” of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas are churning out hate-filled indoctrination videos and sermons, not only encouraging, but justifying such attacks on Jews – because they are Jews.

Note that in your Obituary section, you claim people “died” and “passed” interchangeably.

http://www.dailyprogress.com/mobile_adv/obituaries/

To complete my research for the upcoming article I am writing about this incident at the Daily Progress, I would appreciate your responses to these questions as soon as possible.

Thank you,
Jon Sutz

The response from the editor of the Daily Progress

Mr. Mathews emailed me back on October 27, and suggested that we speak by phone about this:

27Oct15 DP editor response 1

We spoke by phone later that day.  Mr. Mathews listened to my concerns, and offered some feedback, but later requested that our conversation be considered off-the-record, and not included in this article.  SaveTheWest is honoring his request.


The Daily Progress’s official response

I then asked if Mr. Mathews had an official, on-the-record response to my questions, for publication in this article.

Mr. Mathews’ response, on behalf of the Daily Progress:

This is my only (on) the record comment:

The Daily Progress declined to comment for this story.

27Oct15 DP editor response on record


If you’d like to make your voice known on this matter

If you would like to express your view on this matter to the Daily Progress (www.dailyprogress.com) or its parent company, below is their contact information.

Please be polite, and base your comments on the facts.

The Daily Progress
685 West Rio Road
Charlottesville, Va. 22901
434-978-7200

Nick Mathews, Editor
Office phone: 434-978-7283
nmathews@dailyprogress.com

Keely Byars, Publisher
Office phone: 434-978-7211
kbyars@dailyprogress.com

Vincent L. Sadusky
President and Chief Executive Officer
Media General
333 E. Franklin Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Main Phone: 804-887-5000

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