Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the nation’s subsequent bombings of Gaza, 36 journalists or media workers have been killed in the conflict, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. That’s made the ongoing military onslaught among the most deadly events for news professionals in modern history.

But us American journalists are not absolved of responsibility or immune to what’s taking place overseas. Our coverage plays an important role in the way people understand the power dynamic between Palestine and Israel, particularly what numerous organizations have highlighted as an illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine and the investments the U.S. makes in Israel’s military that are fomenting the violence. And there’s growing evidence of an escalating crackdown on media workers expressing concern for Palestinians’ basic human rights. 

In the past month, at least four media professionals have lost their jobs over supporting Palestinians through content or commentary they shared: PhillyVoice basketball writer ​​Jackson Frank for posting about his “Solidarity with Palestine,” Artforum editor-in-chief David Velasco for publishing and signing an open letter from artists calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, political cartoonist Steve Bell for sharing a drawing of Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu some deemed antisemitic, and prominent eLife journal editor Michael Eisen for sharing The Onion’s headline, “Dying Gazans Criticized For Not Using Last Words To Condemn Hamas.”

Others still have faced other forms of discipline. Harper’s Bazaar editor Samira Nasr was forced to apologize for publicly criticizing Israel’s blockade of electricity and water in Gaza as “inhuman”; the leftist podcast “By Any Means Necessary” was taken off the air after its hosts argued for the “just cause of the Palestinian people to oppose apartheid and colonialism”; Palestine Legal attorney Dylan Saba had an opinion article about censorship of Palestinian voices pulled from The Guardian. The list goes on.

When I started digging into this story, I was introduced to Jane*, a freelancer with a background pretty similar to mine: after graduating college in 2018, she worked steady jobs in journalism before she was laid off and turned to freelancing. Her work has nothing to do with foreign policy and international context; she primarily covers climate and lifestyle stories focused on Long Island. But after sharing critical posts about media’s one-sided coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, she found her long-term reporting relationship with Newsday terminated over alleged violations of its social media policy — never mind that she’d long been vocal online about a range of other topics, including her support of Black Lives Matter and “pro-choice” issues.

Jane, who asked to use a pseudonym as she was worried about further professional repercussions, spoke bluntly about her positionality: “I'm not Jewish or Arab. I'm just a white woman,” she told me.

Meanwhile, journalists from Gaza or with Palestinian ties face allegations of bias everyday. “We understand this issue, by being Palestinian, more than anybody, but we're just viewed as inherently biased journalists when it comes to this,” journalist Abdallah Fayyad recently told “Re:Orient,” a podcast associated with the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association (AMEJA). In the course of my reporting, I was curious to what extent the self-described free speech champions were coming to the defense of these newly silenced journalists.

Some, to their credit, stepped up. Aaron Terr, a top official at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, spoke fervently in defense of individuals reprimanded for speaking in support of Palestinians and Palestine.

But others have been far less self-aware, as commentators who have historically railed against “cancel culture” are now cheering the silencing of dissenting voices.In our conversation, I pressed Terr on what he made of this hypocrisy. He deflected.

“I think it would be helpful for people to throw around accusations of hypocrisy less and simply stand on principle,” he told me. “When you look at who was speaking most loudly about cancel culture a year or two ago, and who's speaking most loudly about it now, I think that is a useful demonstration of the fact that a cancel culture is bad for everyone.”

Of course, multiple truths can exist at once. We can all agree more speech is better than less, and that individuals shouldn’t be silenced simply for sharing dissenting opinions. In times of conflict, access to timely and accurate information is crucial, a prime example of journalism existing as a public service. I’m immensely grateful for the journalists abroad risking their lives to cover what international human rights organizations have termed apartheid in Gaza amid rising violence. I’m also grateful for the journalists here risking their livelihoods to speak out about covering it properly and thoroughly.

For more about the phenomenon of journalists being silenced after speaking in support of Palestine, here’s my story for The Objective. And if you'd like to support on-the-ground journalist safety, the IWW Freelance Journalists Union and Palestinian Journalists Syndicate are currently running a fundraiser to provide 50 safety kits to Palestinian journalists.

—Jacob Gardenswartz

New report highlights “The Palestine Exception to Free Speech”: Palestine Legal, an organization dedicated to defending and advancing the civil rights and liberties of those in the U.S. supporting Palestinian freedom, has released a report tracking the last decade of suppression of those — particularly university students — who speak out for Palestinian human rights amid the backdrop of U.S. support for Israel. (Palestine Legal)

AP, National Opinion Research Center, AAPI Data team up to produce monthly in-language polls: These polls will result in regular public opinion survey data collecting Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders’ experiences in the U.S. The inaugural report, expected later this month, will focus on the racist and discriminatory experiences those communities have experienced. (Associated Press)

The Messenger staff looks to unionize after turmoil, secrecy from management: Staff are contending with reports that the company is out of money, and grappling with what the newsroom’s collaboration with Seekr, an AI company, could mean for them. They’re also pushing for a town hall so management can address their concerns, another of which is the secrecy around the site’s analytics and audience data through its Chartbeat. (The Daily Beast)

Tech company erases incarcerated journalists' work: Communication infrastructure app Securus, which provides services to incarcerated people, deleted incarcerated journalists’ drafts during a reconfiguration process — meaning hours and days of work were lost. The company said there was no way to access the lost work. (X, formerly Twitter)

Gannett on track to break its promise to release a yearly diversity report: Along with that goal, which it announced in summer of 2020, the company announced it aimed to achieve gender, racial, and ethnic parity in the communities it serves by 2025’s end. But union leaders at Gannett papers say the company has fallen short of its goals and critique its unwillingness to commit to annual diversity disclosures in union contracts. The company laid off over 600 people last year. (Poynter) 

11 days until … Public Media for All’s fourth annual Day of Action and Education. This webinar invites public media professionals to “reignite the flame” of their commitment to a public media for all by listening to approaches public media organizations are taking to keep true to their goal of achieving impactful equity, inclusion, diversity, and belonging in our industry.

What else should we feature? You tell us. Reply directly to this newsletter. 

Looking for a job? Here are a few places to look: INN | ONA | JournalismJobs.com | 10 Jobs and a Dog | NABJ | AAJA | NAHJ | NLGJA | @WritersofColor | MEO Jobs | Freelance Journalist Rates | Source Jobs | Opportunities of the Week ($) | West Coast Media Jobs

How about a style guide? Trans Journalist Association | Diversity Style Guide | Tribal Nations Media Guide | NABJ Style Guide | Disability Language Style Guide | AAJA Guide to Covering Asian Pacific America | NAHJ Cultural Competence Handbook | SPJ Race & Gender Hotline | AMEJA Media Resource Guide | The Press in Prison | The Conscious Style Guide | Reporting on Addiction

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This issue is by Jacob Gardenswartz, with edits by James Salanga. Copy edits by Omar Rashad and Curtis Yee.