Hezbollah appears to have pulled off quite a public-relations coup by firing rockets at Israel from residential areas and exploiting the resulting tragedy. How can Israel fight an enemy that hides behind women and children? How should the press cover such a fight?
Clearly, reporters should be emphasizing the fact that Hezbollah uses the civilian population as a shield and wants Israel to accidentally strike civilian targets. But even when reporters put these tragedies into that context, the coverage itself is a victory for Hezbollah.
There are no easy answers, because the media can’t just ignore events like the Qana disaster. But the coverage of this incident as opposed to the 150 rocket attacks that preceded it seems… what’s the word? Disproportionate.