Media’s Worst: Disinformation Originates Internally
Checking in on the Media: Misinformation and Bias
Happy Saturday! Let’s dive into the media’s coverage of the past week. Brace yourself for some eye-opening revelations.
Fair and Balanced Reporting
Fair and balanced: While leading news outlets were spreading Hamas disinformation about an explosion at a Gaza hospital, Israel and its defenders took to social media to set the record straight. Interestingly, these same outlets later warned readers about the dangers of social media “disinformation” regarding the Israel-Hamas war.
Washington Post, Oct. 19: “The Israel-Gaza War: News Literacy Lessons”:
Media experts have identified a high volume of misinformation online about the Israel-Hamas war. During major developing stories, information can be scarce or rapidly changing, leaving room for misinformation to fill the void. It’s challenging to distinguish genuine updates from misleading posts shared for engagement or ill intent. Social media platforms are not effectively moderating content for mis- and disinformation. Even X, formerly Twitter, has faced content moderation issues since Elon Musk took over, including endorsing accounts known for spreading disinformation.
Reuters, Oct. 18: “Disinformation Surge Threatens To Fuel Israel-Hamas Conflict”:
Reuters’ fact-checking unit has uncovered numerous cases of social media posts using fake images and information about the Israel-Hamas conflict. However, some instances seem to be more about confusion than deliberate disinformation, which has only heightened tensions.
Vox, Oct. 18: “Don’t Believe Everything You See and Hear About Israel and Palestine”:
Misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war is rampant online. Here’s how to avoid spreading it.
New York Times, Oct. 18: “After Hospital Blast, Headlines Shift With Changing Claims”:
The Israel-Hamas war has been plagued by vast amounts of misleading and false information online. The sheer number of untrue claims has even led some people to question the true ones. …
The New York Times initially reported the Palestinian assertion of an Israeli missile strike on the hospital but later updated the story with Israel’s assertion that a misfired Palestinian rocket was to blame.
Contrary to Hamas’s claims, U.S. and Israeli intelligence, along with verified public footage, contradicted the narrative surrounding the hospital blast. The building was not left in ruins, and the death toll was significantly lower than reported.
This @NYTimes story included a line about the “rubble of the ruined hospital” and remained uncorrected for 20 hours.
What’s truly egregious is that this was the TIMES’S own characterization of the video.
[Original] Oct. 17, 2023, 9:47 p.m. ET
Updated Oct. 18, 2023, 5:54 p.m. ET pic.twitter.com/sRNE9EDwp3— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) October 19, 2023
Despite the evidence, the New York Times and other outlets continued to treat Hamas as credible as the United States and Israel. They preferred to refer to the Islamist death cult ruling Gaza as “Palestinian health officials” or the “Palestinian Ministry of Health.”
New York Times, Oct. 19: ”A Sudden Blast, Then Carnage in a Hospital Courtyard”:
Palestinian officials blamed an Israeli airstrike for the blast, but the Israel Defense Forces disputed this, stating that it was caused by an errant rocket fired by the armed Palestinian faction Islamic Jihad in Gaza. Neither side’s account could be independently verified.
The death toll in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, has reached 3,785 people, with over 13,000 injured.
In Israel, since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, 1,400 people have been killed and 3,500 wounded. https://t.co/qNCcluGX5z
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 19, 2023
There is growing outrage over Israel’s bombing campaign of Gaza, as the number of Palestinians killed has reached 3,785, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Protesters accuse Israel of indiscriminate killing — and they accuse the U.S. of being complicit. pic.twitter.com/TDoNWZejJK
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) October 19, 2023
Media Bias and Distorted Narratives
ICYMI: The Washington Free Beacon documented some of the worst examples of the media uncritically regurgitating Hamas’s early propaganda about the hospital blast.
Truth to Power: CBS News’s Margaret Brennen implied in an interview with Florida governor and GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis that Palestinians cannot be guilty of anti-Semitism because “all Arabs are Semites.” However, the reality is that Palestinians and the Arab world are overwhelmingly anti-Semitic.
The Face the Nation host’s ignorance about the Middle East is nothing new.
What’s Racist Today: CNN added alien abductions to its list of evidence that America is a racist country. According to their “analysis”, the famous UFO visitation story was really about how African Americans are seen as “aliens” who spark terror in people. CNN’s quest to root out racism knows no bounds.
Here are some other instances where CNN tried to uncover racism in unexpected places.
Queen Elizabeth I used some of the earliest written examples of racist language. Here’s how it evolved in the UK over hundreds of years. https://t.co/bQAwbcAxCK pic.twitter.com/x7gud0cab8
— CNN (@CNN) October 12, 2022
If that happens, expect a lot more articles like this one from CNN, featuring one of the crudest and most racist headlines one can conjure:https://t.co/vYfdAfI7SE
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 6, 2022
What’s racism? It’s not always obvious. @WKamauBell explores the hidden drivers of discrimination and shows how blatant White Supremacy is just the tip of the iceberg. An all-new season of #UnitedShades starts Sunday at 10 p.m. ET pic.twitter.com/Wxyl2xYbbs
— CNN (@CNN) July 18, 2020
Selective Coverage and Campus Bias
Media Bubble: National news outlets provided extensive sympathetic coverage of a protest on Capitol Hill led by fringe anti-Israel Jewish groups.
Guardian: “Hundreds Arrested as US Jews Protest Against Israel’s Gaza Assault”:
Left-wing Jewish activists campaigned against Israel’s actions in Gaza this week, culminating in protests that resulted in hundreds being arrested for civil disobedience outside the White House and Congress.
New York Times: “About 300 Protesters Pleading For a Cease-Fire Were Arrested on Capitol Hill, Organizers Say.”:
The rally, organized by progressive Jewish groups Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow, saw around 400 members gather inside the rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building. They were led by 25 rabbis who read testimonials from Palestinians in Gaza and recited prayers. Outside, hundreds more chanted “Cease-fire now” in Hebrew and English.
The demonstration, organized by Jewish groups IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace, took place as Israel prepared for a major military offensive in the Gaza Strip amid an intensifying humanitarian crisis.
Slate: “The Jews Pushing Israel To Stop the War”:
At the White House, hundreds pleaded: “How dare you use my grief to justify killing innocent civilians in my name?”
CBS News: “Protesters on Capitol Hill Call For Israel-Gaza Cease-Fire, Hundreds Arrested”:
Activists dressed in black T-shirts with slogans like “Jews say cease fire now” and “Not in our name” sat on the floor in the rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building, clapping, singing, and holding up large banners that read “Ceasefire” and “Let Gaza Live.”
What the mainstream media largely ignored were the pro-Hamas protests that took place across the United States and the world.
Republicans Pounce: Students and even faculty on college campuses, who were previously demanding safe spaces and claiming that words are violence, suddenly found themselves cheering for Hamas’s genocidal attacks in Israel. However, according to the media, the real problem lies with conservatives who exposed these young anti-Semites.
CNN: “Names and Faces of Harvard Students Linked To an Anti-Israel Statement Were Plastered on Mobile Billboards and Online Sites”:
A conservative nonprofit organized a truck featuring virtual billboards with students’ names and images under a banner that reads: “Harvard’s Leading Antisemites.” They also published names online. CNN has not independently verified the association between the named students and the letter. …
Harvard legal scholar Laurence Tribe criticized the attempts to expose the students, stating that naming and shaming them, along with “labeling them as antisemites while posting their photos to put targets on their backs,” is “far more dangerous than useful.” …
Maliciously publishing personal information, such as home addresses or phone numbers, has long been a tactic used by far-right groups to intimidate Palestinian activists and allies into silence, according to a current Harvard student of Palestinian descent who spoke to CNN anonymously.
New York Times: “After Writing an Anti-Israel Letter, Harvard Students Are Doxxed”:
Collecting names sounds like a throwback to McCarthy-era blacklists, according to critics. These lists could silence not only the students who signed the letter but also those who might have more nuanced opinions.
Threatening people’s career prospects seems like an overreaction, especially when they are young and just starting out.
USA Today: “Harvard Student Groups Doxxed After Signing Letter Blaming Israel for Hamas Attack”:
The conservative media group Accuracy in Media claimed responsibility for the stunt after several CEOs called on Harvard to release the names of students affiliated with groups tied to the controversial letter that solely blamed Israel for the attack.
Boston Globe: “Conservative Group Publicizes Photos, Names of Harvard Students Linked to Controversial Statement on Israel”:
Tensions on campuses over the Israel-Hamas war escalated as an out-of-state conservative group drove trucks through Harvard Square, displaying pictures of students linked to a controversial statement on Israel and labeling them as “Anti-Semites.”
Stay informed and stay safe out there. See you next week!
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