You might notice our newsletter looks a little different. Over the next few months, we’ll continue to make changes, so let us know if you have thoughts on those.
In this issue:
And also: CBS continues to grapple with anchor Tony Dokoupil’s combative interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates, local news owners’ lack of transparency in disclosing political connections, Indiana University student paper to be cut without reporter input, and another OpenAI-media conglomerate partnership.
—James Salanga
INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT, LABOR
Resources for showing solidarity with Palestinian journalists
The past year has been the deadliest for journalists on record. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports the Israeli military have killed at least 128 media workers — the majority being Palestinian, and says there remains no justice for journalists targeted by Israel.
The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (PJS) places that number higher: 167, or over 10% of the Palestinian press corps.
Oct. 7 marks one year since Palestinian militants from Hamas launched a military operation on southern Israel with over 800 civilians and 300 soldiers killed, and about 240 people taken hostage. Israel’s military responded by escalating bombardment on the Gaza Strip, killing over 42,000 Palestinians, and censoring both Palestinian and foreign media; last month, it expanded its military assault to Lebanon.
Israel has occupied Palestine, operating an apartheid system, for decades — beginning with the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in 1948 (also known as the Nakba).
The pattern of media censorship isn’t new: In 2022, Israeli forces killed journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. (Forensic Architecture at the University of London said it was an intentional targeting and the United Nations and US agencies are currently investigating the killing.) And in 2023, the Israeli military censor banned the publication of 613 articles. Earlier this year, equipment from the Associated Press was temporarily confiscated, and last month, Al Jazeera’s offices were raided and shut down.
Inspired by Hanaa’ Tameez’s Twitter thread, I put together an incomplete coverage of journalistic failings this past year when it comes to covering Palestine, reports compiled by Palestinian journalists, and ways to express solidarity with Palestinian journalists.
U.S. journalistic bias slants toward favoring Israel:
Leaked NYT Gaza memo tells journalists to avoid words “genocide,” “ethnic cleansing,” and “occupied territory”: This Intercept story from last April exposes “how apologetic it is to Israel”, as an anonymous Times source put it — a follow-up to previous reporting about major newspapers favoring Israel in coverage and the shoddy foundation of the Times’ Oct. 7 exposé “Screams Without Words.”
Failing Gaza: Pro-Israel bias uncovered behind the lens of Western media: “There were times where CNN was happy to push hard. But on balance, it’s very clear where we lie, regrettably. And it’s not entirely with the truth,” a CNN journalist told Al Jazeera.
How the U.S. media failed to tell the story about the occupation of Palestine: This Q&A in The Nation focuses a documentary analyzing media coverage — or lack thereof — of the occupation of Palestine, and discusses how that’s shaped current approaches to coverage.
The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate recaps the last year:
This week, the journalists’ organization released two reports — ”Silencing Voices: The Plight of Palestinian Journalists Detained by Israeli Occupation during Ongoing Israeli Aggression on Gaza” and “Crimes and Violations against Journalism in Palestine Since the Start of the Genocidal War.” The PJS records 1,639 total violations the syndicate recorded against journalism and media professionals in the past year.
Solidarity actions with Palestinian journalists:
Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG) has issued a call to journalists at mainstream media outlets to “withhold your labor until your newsroom releases a statement condemning the targeting of Palestinian journalists and pledges to report accurately on the genocide. In your reporting, include the names of the surviving and threatened correspondents to protect them.” They’ve also been running an active campaign to boycott, divest, and unsubscribe from The New York Times, including an alternate paper — The New York War Crimes.
Submit a piece to Media Against Apartheid and Displacement, a collaboratively curated hub for “reporting on the colonization and occupation of Palestine, the genocide in Gaza, the U.S. and Western backing of Israel, and the movements fighting for Palestinian liberation.” (The Objective is a part of this collaborative.)
Donate to the International Federation of Journalists’ Safety Fund, which goes toward paying Palestinian journalists, setting up media solidarity centers as Palestinian media outlets continue to be shuttered, and gear and equipment, including tents and sleeping aid.
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MASS INCARCERATION & POLICING
Reporting that this individual is “one of the good ones,” news coverage routinely suggests that the systems governing society are in place to punish the unequivocally guilty — not the innocent. Read more.
WHAT ELSE?
A bit more media
CBS staffers escalate criticism of Tony Dokoupil's hostility on Palestine: Five CBS staffers told Zeteo that they believe leaked audio of a CBS staff meeting about Dokoupil’s interview of Ta-Nehisi Coates to The Free Press was meant to “intimidate” them into silence. Dokoupil, who monopolized the conversation to probe Coates about Israel’s right to exist, maintains he conducted the interview within network practices. On Monday, it was removed from air due to violating CBS editorial standards. The CBS Mornings’ anchor will go unpunished.
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Political connections of local news owners spur suspicion, distrust: There’s been a rise in “pink slime journalism,” says Tow Center for Digital Journalism director Emily Bell: news websites filling the gap run by politically connected editors and publishers and others with potentially hidden motives. Without transparency and clarity about owner connections, readers are left in the lurch and misinformation could run rampant. New Jersey is just one of the many places in the country this phenomenon is happening.
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IU Media School shares plans to cut student weekly paper without student leader, faculty input: The weekly print paper will be cut starting this spring, and student reporters at the Indiana Daily Student were unaware of the decision when it was announced. The media school says it’s cutting the paper as part of a merger across Indiana University’s three media outlets — IDS, radio station WIUX, and IU Student Television. The IDS is currently raising funds to save its weekly print edition.
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Hearst partners with OpenAI to share magazine and newspaper stories with ChatGPT: The newspaper company announced the collaboration on Tuesday, meaning over 20 magazine brands and 40 newspapers will have their content shared with the generative AI model. The Hearst content will be used to answer queries in ChatGPT, including “appropriate citations and direct links.” OpenAI’s deluge of partnerships are a response to lawsuits it’s received accusing the tech company of pilfering reporting and other work without proper licensing, consent, and compensation.
JOURNALISM IN A GRAF
Quote of the week
“My fellow journalists and I continue to speak out, not because we want the world’s pity, nor do we need lectures on ‘neutrality’ by white news anchors. We write because we need to live, to breathe. We use our journalism to strive for a future that doesn’t involve counting the dead.”
FINALLY…
A few more resources
Looking for a job? Here are a few places to look: INN | ONA | JournalismJobs.com | 10 Jobs and a Dog | NABJ | AAJA | NAHJ | NLGJA | Trans Journalists Association | West Coast Media Jobs | @WritersofColor | MEO Jobs | Freelance Journalist Rates | Source Jobs | Opportunities of the Week ($)
How about a style guide? Trans Journalists Association | Diversity Style Guide | Tribal Nations Media Guide | NABJ Style Guide | Disability Language Style Guide | AAJA Style Guide | NAHJ Cultural Competence Handbook | SPJ Race & Gender Hotline | AMEJA Media Resource Guide | The Press in Prison | The Conscious Style Guide | Reporting on Addiction | Religion and Spirituality (Language, Please)
Thanks for reading. We appreciate you being here, and we’ll have more for you soon.
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