Overview

Rarely is the public taken deep into the inner sanctum of major news organisations. In this extraordinary book, award-winning journalist John Lyons goes to the heart of how the media reports—or does not report—one of the biggest stories of our time: the conflict in the Middle East. He looks at the power of lobby groups and shows how they determine much of what is written about Israel, and he turns the spotlight on his own profession and its failings. For Lyons, the six years he spent in Jerusalem as Middle East correspondent for The Australian were the toughest of his forty-year career. He explains how lobby groups attempt to prevent the real story being told, revealing how he himself became a target, and the dirty tricks that are used. He describes how journalists who accurately report what they see can be hounded and vilified, part of a practice of intimidation, harassment and influence peddling that is designed to stop the truth from being told—a practice that must stop. This is an insider’s account of why the real story of the Israel–Palestine conflict goes largely unreported. It is also the story of why, in the wake of the international backlash against media coverage of the May 2021 Israel–Hamas violence, this could be about to change.

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9781922464842

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John Lyons is one of Australia’s most experienced journalists. He is currently Head of Investigative Journalism at the ABC, responsible for Four Corners, 7.30, Foreign Correspondent, Insiders, Australian Story, Q&A and the Investigative Reporting Team. Over the past forty years, he has held leadership positions in several major organisations, including editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and executive producer of Nine’s Sunday program. For six years, John was The Australian’s Middle East correspondent, based in Jerusalem, an experience that led him to write the bestselling Balcony over Jerusalem. He has interviewed everyone from former Israeli prime ministers Shimon Peres and Ehud Olmert to key figures from Hezbollah and Hamas. He has also worked as a New York and Washington correspondent. John has won many awards, including the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year Award, three Walkleys—one for a Four Corners report on Israel’s military court—and UN awards. He now lives in Sydney.

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