Reuters, the Associated Press, the New York Times can’t seem to say “Palestinians protest nonviolently; Israeli soldiers kill them.” Headlines from the region consistently misrepresent the situation as two equal sides – or worse, as Palestinian aggressors inciting Israel to return fire. Words matter.
The Associated Press’s news story on the upcoming Great Return March echoes Israeli talking points…
Yahoo news: The study found that AP reports on Israeli deaths averaged three times longer than reports on Palestinian deaths, headlines reported on Israeli deaths at a rate four times greater than they reported on Palestinian deaths, and significant facts and context available in other news reports were often missing.
A study of AP’s 2018 reports on Palestinians and Israelis killed found that AP headlines reported on Israeli deaths at a rate four times greater than on Palestinian deaths, and that articles were almost three times longer. Essential information was often missing; never once, for example, did AP use the term “occupied” or “occupation”…
Eleven years ago, Alison Weir published an account of the Associated Press erasing footage of an Israeli soldier intentionally shooting a Palestinian boy (originally published in CounterPunch). This was part of a pattern by the AP, as described in the article.
What is AP erasing, ignoring and leaving out these days?