Author: Alan Jacobs
Date: Thursday, May 25, 2000
e-mail editor@ideajournal.com IDEA
Announcement: New article
The News Media & Holocaust Denial A Case in Point: Irving v. Lipstadt by Dan Yurman. © Dan Yurman 2000
With an Index to Holocaust Denial Trial Media Coverage
Description by author:
This is a story of the intersection of the content of history, the Internet, and the news media. It is a story of how a British writer trying to deny decades of madness and human suffering in the last century nearly drove the US & UK news media crazy.The case in point is the Holocaust denial libel trial of Irving v. Lipstadt which ended on April 11th with a victory for Prof. Deborah Lipstadt over David Irving. It is a story of how an American historian, and her publisher, refusing to settle and take the easy way out, instead drew a line in the sand and emerged from the trial with a triumph of honor over elegance.
This is also a story of how two other people used the occasion of the trial to pursue the issues of historical content and meaning on the Internet, and especially to follow what the news media said about the trial and how well it did its job.
Immeasurable appreciation and thanks to Krysia Jacobs, the publisher and webmaster of Idea for her unstinting dedication and tireless pursuit of excellence.
Alan Jacobs, Editor