Ibrahim Barzak - AP Lead Opinionator

The AP and Ibrahim Barzak would be a great case study for "truthful bias in modern publishing" and the more modern move from reporter to "opinionator".

Remember the days of yore, when a reporter actually reported FACTS. The AP (Associated Press) has allowed itself to slip into another reality, a make-believe reality, where reporters really are Very Important People (VIP) who must express their bias and of course, deny reality.

One such opinionator is IBRAHIM BARZAK:

Guardian Unlimited | World Latest | Israeli Strikes Kill 8 Militants in Gaza:

...eight Palestinian militants Saturday in the latest signs that Israel has stepped up its retaliation for Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza since the Islamic militant group Hamas assumed power last week.

Six Palestinian militants were killed and five wounded when Israeli aircraft fired missiles after nightfall at a training camp in central Gaza, Palestinian officials said.

The US Department of State classified HAMAS as a FTO (Foreign Terrorist Organization). They are - in FACT - number seven on the list. If the FTO list were more like Billboard, it would probably note HAMAS as "Number Seven with a bullet".

"Militant" or "militants" is a gross mis-statement of the facts. They are, and have always been, TERRORISTS. Period. In fact, wherever Hamas appears in print, it should be noted IN THE ARTICLE the US (and other nations) have listed HAMAS as a terrorist organization.

Lest you think this bias is new, think again:

CAMERA: Ibrahim Barzak: Multiple links going back to 2003.

Here's a 2002 article by IB:

20,000 Palestinians March in Gaza IBRAHIM BARZAK / AP 10oct02:

IBRAHIM BARZAK / AP 10oct02

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Twenty-thousand police and militiamen marched in a funeral procession for a police colonel Thursday in the biggest Palestinian display force in years and a clear warning to the slain officer's Hamas killers to end their challenge to Yasser Arafat (news - web sites)'s government.

Four years back and only a year after the US designated HAMAS as a FTO, IB is defiantly calling them "militants". Puh-lease.

Calling an elephant a cow does not change the fact it is an elephant. Calling terrorists militants actually does a dis-service to true militants. It also destroys the use of the term "militant", forever bending it to succumb to synonym usage or "aka, TERRORIST". Well, there goes the neighborhood.

Technorati tags: Middle East Bias