Headline Roundup • November 10th, 2023
Did News Agencies Use Photos From Pro-Hamas Journalists in Coverage of Israel Attacks?
Facts And Fact Checking,Israel Hamas Violence,Media Industry,Media Bias,AP Bias,New York Times Bias,CNN Bias,Reuters Bias
Summary from the AllSides News Team
A report this week suggested that sources including The New York Times (Lean Left bias), Associated Press (Lean Left bias), and Reuters (Center bias) used photos from freelancers embedded with Hamas during the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
The Details: Pro-Israel media watchdog HonestReporting (not rated) focused on photographer Hassan Eslaiah, and how AP used Eslaiah's photos of Hamas attacking Israel. HonestReporting published a photo of Eslaiah with a Hamas leader and asked, "Is it conceivable to assume that 'journalists' just happened to appear early in the morning at the border without prior coordination with the terrorists?" AP and CNN (Lean Left bias) cut ties with Eslaiah following the report but didn't specify why.
Key Quotes: "These journalists were accomplices in crimes against humanity; their actions were contrary to professional ethics," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. "It is reckless to make such allegations, putting our journalists on the ground in Israel and Gaza at risk," read a statement from the Times.
How the Media Covered it: Left-rated sources highlighted statements from the sources in question denying that they had prior knowledge of the attacks or embedded journalists with Hamas. Right-rated sources often framed the sources' use of photos from the freelancers as unethical and questioned why the freelancers didn't notify authorities or news outlets of the attacks ahead of time.
Why the Difference? Some, especially on the right, believe major news sources are unwilling to frame Hamas negatively. Read more about ideological divisions over Israel and Palestine.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Social media via BBC
A number of news outlets have strongly rejected Israeli accusations that four freelance photographers they worked with in Gaza had prior knowledge of the Hamas attacks on 7 October.
Israeli minister Shlomo Karhi said "certain individuals" who had worked for Reuters, AP, CNN and the New York Times "had prior knowledge".
All four outlets have denied the claims.
The NYT said the "outrageous" accusations endangered freelancers.
Hamas launched devastating and unprecedented attacks on southern Israel on 7 October, killing more than 1,400 Israeli civilians and soldiers, and kidnapping more than...
In response to a Wednesday report indicating that several journalists were embedded with Hamas terrorists in the early stages of their attack on Israel, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a sharp condemnation.
“These journalists were accomplices in crimes against humanity; their actions were contrary to professional ethics,” the Prime Minister’s office wrote in a post on X.
“Overnight the GPO (Government Press Office) issued an urgent letter to the bureau chiefs of the media organizations that employed these photographers and sought clarifications on the matter,” the post reads....
Two international news agencies and The New York Times have denied claims in a viral report alleging that photojournalists may have had prior knowledge of Hamas’ attacks in Israel last month and even possibly “coordinated” with the militant group in order to document the carnage.
An article published by HonestReporting Tuesday asked how photographers working for the Associated Press and Reuters were able to be at the breached border fence between Gaza and Israel early in the early morning of Oct. 7 as Hamas gunmen launched their assault. The article said the journalists’ presence “raises serious ethical questions” and asked if...
