On Wednesday, during a meeting with Jewish
families, US president Biden implored his citizens to seek the truth.
“I never really thought I would see, have
confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading babies,” he said emphatically to a
room of Jewish families.
اضافة اعلان
Later, when questioned on the source of the
information - it was revealed that no such photos had ever been seen nor
confirmed, and the information was based on nothing but Netanyahu’s word and
Israeli sources.
By this time, however, it was too late. The
story had already made its way around the world, from CNN to the Independent -
the west exploded with condemnation of Hamas’s proposed brutality - and a new
round of consent was manufactured for the annihilation of Gaza.
Fables of savage beheadings had circulated
prior to Biden's remarks, based on the testimony of a single reporter for the
highly compromised and Netanyahu aligned I24 news. In an apparent rewrite of
every rule of journalistic integrity developed over the last century - highly
esteemed western publications rushed to spread the story without ever making a
single call to verify.
Those who did, including reporters from Sky
news and the Turkish Anadolu Agency were met with an inconvenient journalistic
reality, when Israeli officials continually failed to verify the story.
The story lacked any evidence, and yet
desperate for views - lusting on the emotions that islamist terror provokes in
the western populace - many so called “journalists and editors” went with it
anyway; regardless of the cost to their actions.
Unfortunately, this was not the first time
during this conflict that western reporters would lower their editorial
standards below that of the average subreddit.
Shani Louk, the girl which became the poster
child for condemnation and sympathy with Israeli colonisation, the girl who
just “wanted to party” but ended up supposedly raped/killed and paraded around
the streets of Gaza - turned out to be alive.
Her own mother confirmed the reports in an
interview, saying trusted sources had informed her of her daughter being
treated in Gaza hospital. How could this be? Louk had already been martyred by
the press and become a flashpoint for the genocide of Gaza.
Inconveniently for the press, their primary
case study had turned out to be a fraud and yet little apology followed.
Instead, more reports of mass rapes by Hamas militants, based on nothing but
singular Israeli military sources continued to flood the headlines.
As a tirade of raw video footage and evidence
began to flood the internet showing actual Gazan kids being pulled from rubble
failed to barely get a mention; many of those not brainwashed into following
the official party line of the western military apparatus began to question the
validity of what they were seeing.
Is this what constitutes fair journalism in
the year 2023 ?Of course, this is not to say that there have
not been violations by militants on the ground, the reality and brutality of
the war means the sanctity and dignity of human life is often lost.
However, where do we draw the line on how we
report conflict and what sources we take.
There are hundreds of videos circulating
online that purport to show the humane treatment of hostages by Hamas
militants, a settler whose home was breached by two militants described being
dumbfounded when militants who had entered her home did not touch her or her
children, one even asking permission before taking a banana from the pantry.
Nothing should be above the line of reporting,
but if the western media is so quickly ready to fall in line with the state
sanctioned position - then our profession is under more threat than I
originally feared.
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