NPR has received hundreds of letters, e-mails and phone calls from American partisans on both sides of the conflict. Some listeners say there appears to be a disproportionate concentration on the death of two Israelis in Ramallah last week. By contrast, they say, NPR has not reported fully on the deaths of some 100 Palestinians by Israeli troops and settlers. It's important that the editors know how listeners feel about their reporting. If only it were that simple.
Lobby groups have every right to let their feelings be known.
They have a constitutional right to do so. But they should know that their strategies and tactics are transparent. Most news organizations play along with this fiction. Cynical attitudes like that still abound. Some lobby groups see the media as a cats paw to be tossed back and forth in order to press their arguments in the public eye.