How should news orgs cover this war?

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2023

How should they cover vast suffering? How should this nation's major news orgs cover the vast amounts of suffering involved in this current war?

In this morning's Washington Post, Will Sommer (no relation) ponders one form of that question. In print editions, the headline on his report says this:

Contributor to N.Y. Times criticizes its Gaza coverage

In this case, the contributor isn't just any contributor. The contributor is Mona Chalabi, who recent won a Pulitzer Price for that very same New York Times.

Chalabi has lodged a complaint about the way the Times has covered the war. For the record, she may be right, or she may be wrong. Headline included, Sommer's report starts like this:

Contributor to N.Y. Times criticizes its Gaza coverage

As journalist and illustrator Mona Chalabi sat through the ceremony last month where she would officially receive her Pulitzer Prize, she leaned over to her editor, Jake Silverstein of the New York Times, to show him her latest work.

It was a chart she had posted on Instagram, presenting data to suggest that the Times devotes less attention to Palestinian deaths than Israeli deaths in the ongoing Gaza conflict—and calling out the Times for “bias.”

She told The Washington Post that she was late to the ceremony because she was rushing to post the chart first.

“Before I sat next to my editor at the New York Times to accept this prize, I wanted to publish this critique of the New York Times,” Chalabi said.

There have already been many deaths, and a great deal of suffering, in this six-week-old war. Chalabi seems to think that the Times has been paying more attention to the deaths of Israelis than to the deaths of the Palestinians who live right next door.

According to Sommer, she describes this as a form of "bias." Sommer's report continues as shown:

This week, in the latest flare-up of newsroom tensions over the Israel-Gaza war, the freelance contributor to the Times ramped up her criticism of the newspaper for which she won journalism’s biggest prize, in interviews and social media posts saying she believes the Times coverage of the war has favored the Israeli perspective over the Palestinian. She also took aim at the Pulitzers, saying she felt as if the plight of Palestinian journalists and civilians was overlooked during speeches.

On Thursday, Chalabi announced on Instagram, where she has more than 468,000 followers, that she donated the $15,000 that came with her Pulitzer win to a Palestinian journalists group to help fight what she sees as an “asymmetry” that elevates Israeli voices over Palestinian ones in the media.

Has the Times "favored the Israeli perspective over the Palestinian" perspective? Has the Times "elevated Israeli voices over Palestinian" voices? 

We have no particular view on that.

Is it possible that the Times should favor the Israeli perspective over the Palestinian perspective? Given the circumstances of this particular war, is it possible that the Times should "devote less attention to Palestinian deaths?"

Trust us! Given the understandable depth of feeling involved in the matter at hand, various people will almost surely have different reactions to such questions as those.

For ourselves, we've admired the fact that the PBS NewsHour has devoted detailed segments to Israeli suffering and death, but also to Palestinian suffering and death. We've stated our basic framework before:

We'd like to see Palestinians and Israelis—Israelis and Palestinians—able to live in peace and prosperity. We'd like to see them able to do that, whether they do so together or in those famous "two states." After that, we'd like to see their winning example inspire other populations around the world.

Is the death of the toddler in Gaza City equivalent to the death of the toddler who was murdered by Hamas on October 7? Are they all just a bunch of kids?

Depending on their pre-existing affiliations and depending on their predispositions, many people will have a hard time agreeing to such propositions. It's natural that people will have intense feelings with regard to a matter like this.

Should toddlers of various groups get the chance to grow up in peace and prosperity? We'd be inclined to say yes. In our view, people who want to help should try to state that goal every time, at the start of each discussion.

There has been suffering on various side, but how do we get to tomorrow? Also, is Chalabi right in what she has said?

We have no real idea about that. She could be right—but she could be wrong. As with many things in this life, it may not be easy to tell.