Wednesday, October 25, 2023

NYT admits error in Gaza hospital report

Several news outlets, including The Times, Reuters and The Associated Press faced criticism for publishing Hamas' viewpoint prominently in articles and on social media.

POLITICO initially published the Associated Press' report on Hamas blaming Israel, then quickly updated the article to reflect AP's new reporting that Israel had disputed the allegation.

"The Times's initial accounts attributed the claim of Israeli responsibility to Palestinian officials, and noted that the Israeli military said it was investigating the blast," reads the Times' editors' note published on Monday.

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"While we continue to collect information, our current assessment, based on analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts and open source information, is that Israel is not responsible for the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday," National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson tweeted after Biden's statement.

The Times stopped short of an apology for its initial coverage but said editors should have been more careful with the way the blast was represented.

"Given the sensitive nature of the news during a widening conflict, and the prominent promotion it received, Times editors should have taken more care with the initial presentation, and been more explicit about what information could be verified," the note reads. 

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/23/gaza-hospital-new-york-times-00122986

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