From WNYC in New York, this is NPR's On the Media.

I'm Brooke Gladstone.

I'm Bob Garfield, and this week we're starting a little differently with a couple of letters from last week.

The issue was Israel's recent unprecedented crackdown on the press.

Robert Smith of Dallas thought our treatment insightful and added,

for many historical and sometimes legitimate reasons,

the Israeli government gets a pass on a lot of things,

on restricting press coverage,

selectively granting press credentials based on religion, nationality, or

affiliation, no passes should be given to their government or any other.

But listener George Buello criticized journalists for applying a double standard when issuing

complaints. Within the last two weeks, he writes, we have seen Reuters' correspondents who witnessed

and videotaped the summary

execution of collaborators by Palestinian authorities, having their tapes confiscated and their

lives threatened. Little if anything was reported by NPR or by any other Western media outlets.

Yet everyone, on the media included, jumped on the bandwagon to bash

the Israelis for closing certain areas of military activity to a prying press. So, do the media hold

Israel to a different standard, condemning it for actions we tolerate from the Palestinian Authority?

Joel Simon of the Committee to Protect Journalists joins us now.

So, Joel, I assume you'll say no. There is no double standard.

Well, it's a little more complicated. I mean, from our vantage point, we simply document the cases

as they come our way. Since the incursion began, we've documented two serious press

...