Examining the Leads

The death of Yasser Arafat, among other things, exposes to what extent newspapers will sacrifice journalistic standards to fit their agenda. The Journal, Post, and Daily News, considered right-wing by many, have factual leads to their stories today revealing the death of Arafat. They tell you the who, the what, and the where.Wall Street Journal:Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died in a French hospital yesterday, leaving behind no clear successor and a system for governing Palestinian interests so feeble and impoverished that it might not survive the looming power struggle.New York Post:Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died this morning in a military hospital in Paris, officials said.The death of the 75-year-old president of the Palestinian Authority was announced in the West Bank city of Ramallah, site of Arafat's headquarters.NY Daily News:Yasser Arafat, the father of Palestinian nationalism, died in a Paris military hospital early today, officials said.The 75-year-old Palestinian president never overcame a brain hemorrhage he suffered Tuesday, they said.The Times, meanwhile, tells you what happened, but it is mixed in along with pure opinion.New York Times:Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, died early Thursday morning in a Paris hospital, a French military spokesman announced.Mr. Arafat, who was the symbol of the Palestinian revolution and aspiration for an independent state for some 40 years, died at about 3:30 a.m. Paris time of complications from an unknown disease after lingering in a coma for days, as his wife and closest aides struggled over his political and financial legacy.The reporter claims Arafat was a symbol of revolution and aspiration for an independent state, but as Roger Simon notes:
If Arafat had wanted a Palestinian state, he could have had one many times over. He wanted no such thing. He wanted hundreds of millions in the bank and the perks of a Mafia chieftain - and he got what he wanted. Looked at objectively, he had more contempt for the Palestinian people that anybody alive.Over at the two primary "news services," the AP and Reuters, the same kind of opinion is infiltrated into the two leads.Associated Press:Yasser Arafat, who triumphantly forced his people's plight into the world spotlight but failed to achieve his lifelong quest for Palestinian statehood, died Wednesday at age 75.Reuters:Yasser Arafat, the guerrilla icon turned Nobel Peace Prize winner who ended up isolated and locked in renewed conflict with Israel, died on Thursday, his dream of a Palestinian state unfulfilled. He was 75.And the glorification of a terrorist goes on and on and on...