Fighting Fire vs. Firefights

Palestinian Firefighters on their way to Israel














There have been lots of things happening in the news lately.

The big story in Israel this week, besides Wikileaks of course, was the tragic and devastating fire that consumed much of the Carmel forest.

What I thought was particularly telling was a really nice story that made the Israeli and Palestinian News, but was not reported by most international news agencies.

The tale is of the team of 21 Palestinian firefighters from the West Bank who came to Israel's aid to fight the fires alongside their Israeli and international colleagues.

Here is the Israeli account in The Jerusalem Post:

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=198113

And now the Palestinian account from Ma'an News Agency:

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=338524

Some international agencies did find this to be newsworthy, but most ignored it.

We all know that if this was an Israeli vs. Palestinian firefight, it would have made headlines around the world.

But when the Israelis and Palestinians fight fires together, it's barely even a blip on the radar.


Perhaps I'm pointing out something obvious here, but what is the value of a news organization that ignores positive stories, but would never miss a negative one?

Since when did news become a collection of cookie cut stories that follow along a predetermined narrative?

I know that that the news is in a Wiki craze right now, but how is this story not fit to print?