In an unpopular decision with many students and alumni, Brandeis discontinued underwriting on National Public Radio (NPR) Boston affiliate WBUR-FM last August as a result of a perceived anti-Israel bias in Middle East reporting, and at this point, the decision remains intact.The advertisements, which primarily featured the Heller School, the Graduate School for International Economics and Finance (now the International Business School) and Continuing Education programs have not returned, according to Mark Conlon, a member of the Sales Department at the Boston University-based radio station.

"This (the bias) has been a non-issue for many months," said Dr. John Hose, executive assistant to University President Jehuda Reinharz.

When the decision was still fresh, Hose told the Justice last October that the removal of public radio advertisements was only temporary. A meeting between Reinharz and NPR president Kevin Klose was scheduled for November 2002, but it was cancelled due to a scheduling conflict. Dr. Hose mentioned that President Reinharz has noted some improvement in NPR broadcasts in the last year.

Without raising prospects for new WBUR advertisements, Hose said this week, "whether advertising is resumed will be a business decision." He added that such a process would include some conversation about bias concerns, and would focus primarily on public radio advertising as part of Brandeis' overall communications plan.

The dispute between Brandeis and WBUR mirrors a larger dispute between NPR and media watchdog organizations such as the Boston-based Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA). Despite Hose's statement that public radio this year has shown improvement, CAMERA's Associate Director Dr. Alex Safian says, "NPR has not become any less biased and are as biased as ever. They are not deserving of support."

Safian also said that there are many inaccuracies in many NPR broadcasts. Safian said he believes the news organization often mangles and misquotes the statements of Israeli officials and is very reluctant to correct itself. Safian noted that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is played on NPR member stations, saying, "The BBC is in a class by itself, (when it comes to Middle East reporting. They specialize in giving the third degree to Israeli officials and only showing the Palestinian point of view."

Responding to accusations from CAMERA and similar groups, NPR Director of Media Relations Jessamyn Sarmiento said, "We're pretty transparent about this because of the interest in this issue."

Like other leading news organizations, Sarmiento said "(NPR is) committed to reporting in the most accurate, fair and balanced manner." The BBC did not reply when asked to comment on Safian's allegations.

According to a report in the Aug. 9, 2002 edition of The Boston Globe, Sarmiento observed a protest of about 80 people reacting to NPR's coverage of the Middle East.

CAMERA often buys large advertisement spaces in newspapers to publicize its positions against NPR and other news organizations (attempts to place ads in the Justice have been declined in accordance with Justice policy, but CAMERA did buy several full-page layouts in the now-defunct student run newspaper The Indi).

Hose said the WBUR issue would be evaluated by the incoming Senior Vice President for Communications, announced on Thursday to be Lorna Miles Whalen, a principal consultant at education marketing firm Stamats Communications. Whalen will assume full-time duties in her new position at the end of September. As she is slated to review the present communications strategy and construct a new plan, the question of whether Brandeis will resume underwriting WBUR remains unanswered.