Faulty spin

If you hired someone who subsequently made headlines for all the wrong reasons, it's fairly safe to suggest that you wouldn't make a great fanfare about the fact. You certainly would try to avoid having your good name linked with the person in the press and if the media were to make the connection, you'd probably play it down or refuse to comment.

The Jerusalem Post has chosen to do precisely the opposite in the case of Benjamin Bright- Fishbein, the American student who thought it would be a good idea (which ranks alongside this one) to grab a coffee in Nablus on Saturday. The not-so-Bright-Fishbein, seemingly unaware that the locals are not particularly fond of either Jews or Americans, was unsurprisingly (to everyone but himself) kidnapped at gunpoint and held for several hours whilst army units were held on high alert and the Shin Bet went into overdrive to arrange his eventual release - seemingly only due to the fact that he was the holder of an American passport.

Given that one assumes that the Post decides what it prints, it's decision to flaunt the fact that Bright-Fishbein "had spent the past month working as an intern" for them, with a front page, above the fold, headline - "Post intern released unharmed by Aksa Martyrs Brigades" and by acknowledging the fact with some pride on their website, seems to suggest that they are not bothered about the fact that they have someone who is guilty at best of gross stupidity on their staff. Although to regular readers maybe that's not news....