Is Haaretz a "good" source to learn about I/P issues? What about Al Jazeera or the Times of Israel?
[meta question] How did you figure out how to answer the two above questions? I know that newspapers do make mistakes, but I'm willing to forgive them if they make mistakes in good-faith and not because their reporters and/or editorial have an ideology of hatred and bias (either towards or against Israel / Jews / Palestine / Muslims). And I know every news source has bias, I'm just trying to think for myself and ask questions.
This is a bigger question than I'm ready to tackle right now, Anon, but I may be able to offer a couple thoughts.
The first rule of reading the news is to trust no one source, read broadly.
I think Al Jazeera and Middle East Eye can teach you a lot about what Qatar wants Western leftists to think. Not at all reliable for factual reporting.
I have been reading and watching a little from Al Arabiya (Saudi) lately and have mostly been impressed, but I haven't delved into it deeply.
I think The Jerusalem Post can show you what the Israeli right wants the anglophonic world to believe. On any given day, you can see its biases clearly by browsing its headlines. As for newsgathering and reporting...? Mostly factual, but always slanted to the right.
I think that The Times of Israel does the best (imperfect) job in English of avoiding blatant biases. It seems pretty centrist to me, but I'm told others view it as center-left. Look through the headlines and you'll notice those headlines are not generally emotionally charged. The editors are making an effort to report the news in a value-neutral manner without loaded language. I really like that. I haven't had any serious complaints about factual reporting. I recommend you avoid The Blogs.
Haaretz can teach you a lot about what highly educated leftist ashkenaz elites in Israel think will gain the attention of Western progressives/leftists, and also sometimes has important information and actual journalism.
But instead of having me (an American who can only read any of these outfits in English) attempt to describe the cultural placement and significance of Haaretz, give Israeli analyst (for The Times of Israel) Haviv Rettig Gur six minutes and he'll do a much better job:
If you see the value in this, watch the whole podcast (below) to see Haviv delve into this week's big piece from Haaretz to explain the infuriating way it manages to lie with misleading, loaded headlines...while also doing important reporting:
The next obvious question should be: What about Haviv's biases?
He has 'em, of course. Everybody does.
I like how Haviv puts his biases out on the table in full view. He's a bleeding heart liberal on social issues, he's hawkish on defense, he's the son of a Rabbi and a proud Zionist who understands the insanity of the West well enough to explain to us what we're blind to. He does not flinch from criticizing the Israeli government or the IDF (as you'll see in this podcast episode).
I have not yet seen him attempt to dissemble. He's comfortable saying "I don't know." I have seen him in dialogue with others where he'll readily concede someone else's good point even when he doesn't like it...or extend enormous amounts of patience because he appreciates sincerity and intellectual honesty...especially from people with whom he disagrees.
Haviv isn't always right, but he's always knowledgeable, intellectually honest, and open about his biases.
That's about as good as it gets in today's media landscape.
