Today's word: Etrog Journalism.

I learned a new word – or rather, term – today at the Arab-Israeli Journalism panel I sat on: etrog journalism.

The idea, thunk up by a Haaretz reporter a few years ago, is that certain items of news need to be treated as delicately as an etrog, the yellow citrus fruit we Jews use on Succot. We keep them in boxes, wrapped carefully in styrofoam or straw hair-like substances so as not to break the end of it.

The example given, and the original story, apparently, was that Sharon needed to be protected like an etrog to play down corruption in the government so that other news about the peace process and disengagement could prevail. From there came “etrog journalism”: protecting an issue so that other issues can thrive.