Eighty-five percent of the world’s international news comes from just three sources, Amotz Eyal, the founder and CEO of Tazpit News Service, told the Jewish Link in an interview. In various locations throughout the metropolitan area this week, Eyal is working to explain to the community how the international media works with regard to Israel.
“People are upset about the news that is coming out from Israel. To understand why you are upset, you have to understand who is standing behind the news, who wrote this article, and who sent it out,” he said. Nine out of ten articles about Israel printed by the New York Times, for example, are news-service articles, and in fact the control that these wire services have over how stories are told could either make anti-Israel bias appear more rampant than it may be, or promote more bias in news organizations than intended.
Eyal shared that misleading article titles that have shocked the Jewish world, such as one that recently appeared on CBS News: “Three Palestinians Killed After Stabbing Attack,” are written, by and large, by a handful of news-service reporters, yet the Associated Press reaches fully half of the world’s population every day. “And AP is smaller than Reuters,” Eyal added.
Once a problem is understood, it is easier to implement the solution, Eyal said. “We are missing a reliant and accurate news agency. The first solution is to start sending out our own material.” There is no other Israeli news agency, he added.
Eyal explained he has more than 200 photographers on the ground taking pictures throughout Israel, and Tazpit, in only its first six years of operation, is now the first news agency to reach sites where news is breaking, including at terrorist attack sites. He has five reporters working around the clock and is seeking additional editors, producers and marketing staff.
The goal of the agency is to reach the biggest websites and news outposts, and the agency now has relationships with De Bild in Germany and various other news sources in Morocco, Spain, Brazil and South Korea. The content is produced in English only, but the team in Brazil translates into Portuguese. Eyal noted his team is also working to promote content in America, and has worked in recent months with Huffington Post, Newsmax and The Blaze.
Tazpit is an NGO and is currently funded by donors, but “our goal is to be self-sufficient in two years,” said Eyal. He said the reason for his visit to the States is to inform many more people about the news agency, and to meet with supporters including those from the Israeli American Council and Fuel for Truth. Many of his supporters come from Miami, the Bay Area and the local metropolitan area, he told the Jewish Link.
“Today we are stronger than AP and Reuters in Israel. We know there will be people who want to help us,” said Eyal.
To learn more, please check local shul listings for Eyal’s appearances or visit http://tazpit.org.il/.
By Elizabeth Kratz
