Just Journalism Newsletter 
2 July 2010 Inconsistent media attitudes to misuse of UK passports abroad 
An editorial published by The Guardian following the expulsion of an Israeli diplomat from the UK following the Dubai affair: 'Israel and Britain: The rule of law,' (24 March 2010) carried the sub-head, 'The forging of British passports is the work of a country which believes it can act with impunity when planning the murder of its enemies'. The piece described the faking of UK passports as 'the mark[s] of an arrogant nation that has overreached itself.' In Wednesday's editorial, 'Russian espionage: Spies like us,' in the same newspaper, the alleged use of a forged UK passport failed to even elicit a mention.
The BBC, too, seems to view the fraudulent use of British passports by foreign governments in the service of illegal activities, as requiring nuance. In its coverage so far the profile given to the UK passport forgery is negligible. Of the eight articles published on its news website on the subject in the first 24 hours, only three even mention the issue. Paul Reynolds did draw a link between the two cases at the tail end of his piece, 'Russian 'spies' were no James Bonds,' identifying this common alleged use of British passports by Israel and Russia as 'one diplomatic footnote which might be followed up by the British and Irish governments.'
To read the rest, click here.Comparison of British and French coverage of Gaza blockade 
Le Monde v. The Times
The Times and Le Monde, centre-right and centre-left respectively, clearly emphasised different aspects in their initial coverage of the plans to ease the blockade. The Times, in 'Gaza crossing points to be opened as Israel bows to international pressure', (15 June, James Hider and David Charter) concentrated on the fact that the decision was 'prompted by criticism of its bloody interception of an aid flotilla two weeks ago and condemnation of the Gaza blockade by the Red Cross.' In contrast, Le Monde's article from the 14 June paid less attention to criticisms of the blockade in light of Free Gaza incident, or to Israel's plans to hold an independent inquiry into it, and more to discussing the actual details of the blockade, such as noting that it only currently let in '97 items...as opposed to 4,000 items before the reinforcing of the blockade' or that the crossing points 'in Karni and Kerem Shalom' would soon be reopened.
The French outlet also cited the fatal attack on three Israeli policemen near Hebron by Palestinian militants on Monday 14 June, which underlined that Israel's security policies do not exist within a vacuum. By contrast, The Times did not mention the Hebron attack at any point in the week.
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Friday, 2 July 2010
Though many and crucial differences exist between the cases of the alleged Russian spy ring arrested in the US on Tuesday and the suspected assassination by Israeli agents of a Hamas leader in Dubai in January this year, the common misuse of British and Irish passports is worth noting. In the latter case, expressions of political and media outrage were abundant; in the former, not so much on either front.
Between June 14 and 21, media coverage of Israel focused mainly on the plans to loosen the blockade on Gaza. Key differences emerged between French and British publications Not only were there differences between how the different British outlets reported on the story, but there were also clear differences between how the British media and the French media covered it. Below are three comparisons of British and French broadsheet newspapers, with the British paper in each case being compared to its nearest equivalent on the political spectrum.
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