CAMERA Prompts Removal of Tendentious LA Times Headline

Following communication with CAMERA staff, the Los Angeles Times changed a tendentious headline which falsely depicted Sheik Raed Saleh, the leader of the northern branch of the Islamist Movement in Israel, as a campaigner for civil rights. As noted yesterday on our Snapshots blog, the original headline read:

It is indefensible to take Sheik Raed Saleh on his word regarding his so-called anti-discrimination campaign in light of his history of constant incitement, apparent fund-raising for Hamas, and his anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that Jews are responsible for 9/11. Given that his past activities more closely align with those of a terror-supporting anti-Semitic extremist than those of a civil rights campaigner, this original headline was problematic, to say the least.

True, the sub-headline of the online edition also qualifies the “anti-discrimination” claim, stating: “Sheik Raed Saleh plans to organize Arab Israelis against what he sees as systematic discrimination. Israel considers him extremely dangerous.” But, as is known, many casual readers don’t get past the headline to read the more detailed sub-headline. (And since when does a passable sub-headline mitigate an egregiously misleading headline?)

Times editors, to their credit, promptly responded to the feedback, and replaced the absurdly misleading headline with a more balanced one:
CAMERA commends the Los Angeles Times for promptly setting the record straight.