The Middle East Media Sampler 4/17/12: Maybe Obama Isn't As Smart As The Media Said!?

From DG:

1) Diehl him out?

When the editors of the Washington Post endorsed President Obama four years ago, they wrote:

But Mr. Obama, as anyone who reads his books can tell, also has a sophisticated understanding of the world and America's place in it.

Now one of those editors, Jackson Diehl, seems to believe differently. In Events do not wait as Obama plays a delay defense:

Justin Martin's Statistical Attack On Israel Critiqued On Columbia Journalism Review

Indeed, his [Justin D. Martin's] methodology was a classic example of the sort of statistical recklessness that CJR scolds other journalists for.
Sohrab Ahmari

It seemed simple enough.

Justin D. Martin wrote an article, printed on Columbia Journalism Review on Which Countries Jail the Most Journalists Per Capita?.

The conspicuous absence of China from what purported to be a list of authoritarian and quasi-authoritarian states was the first hint of Martin's flawed methodology--the conspicuous presence of Israel confirmed it.

Though Martin has defended his article and mocked those who questioned his methodology, The Columbia Journalism Review has now published a critique of Justin Martin's article, entitled Statistics and Moral Sense:

The Middle East Media Sampler 4/5/2012: Homemade Statistics Replace Journalism

From DG:

1) Damn lies and statistics

On vacation, the incoming New York Times Jerusalem bureau chief, Jodi Rudoren tweeted:

What do #Israel and #Iran have in common? Jailing journalists, according to @cjr. http://bit.ly/H9BdgT”

This led to a number of critiques of the study, including Elder of Zion's How to misuse statistics and Omri Ceren's One Academic’s Breathtakingly Dishonest Attack on Israel’s Press Freedoms, and questions about Rudoren's choice of "factoid" to publicize. Apparently after reading some of the recommended critiques, Rudoren expressed regrets: