Why Journalists Keep Screwing Up Israel Coverage

A dark day for journalism.

By and
27

Sarah and Steve commandeer the Skiff for a bit of rare media criticism that was left out of Thursday’s flagship episode. The two analyze the New York Times’s Gaza hospital coverage and other journalistic derelictions of duty.

Show notes:

-Thursday’s Dispatch Podcast

-Jeryl Bier’s piece on NYT’s coverage

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Comments (27)
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  1. James Bennett

    James Bennet's biggest sin was misspelling his own name.

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  2. Marc Grossman

    Sarah and Steve -- great discussion. The Times' "coverage" of the hospital blast simply reaffirmed my years-ago decision to stop giving any serious consideration to anything that appears in that paper (though I admit to still doing the Sunday NYT crossword, about the only redeeming quality of the paper). I lived most of my life in LA (now in Tennessee) and, as you both rightly noted, the same problem exists with the LA Times and other large news organizations. Journalism is in a sad state, which makes me sad as a former journalism student (50 years ago).
    But you guys didn't mention one of, and maybe the biggest problem with the Times' misreporting and failure to correct in a timely manner; and that's the real-world repercussions. Unlike errors, bias or falsehoods on some other topics (think Jayson Blair, the Tom Cotton op-ed, a false report on an alleged John McCain affair, etc.), the Gaza hospital story resulted in Biden's Mideast meetings being cancelled, Jews being attacked in several cities in the US and around the world, embassies being attacked, ugly demonstrations, and so on.
    Maybe these things would have happened anyway, given the heat this has all generated and milquetoast statements from the UN and college presidents, but the Times and others surely fanned the flames.

    Marc Grossman

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  3. Lee Rone

    I've had to turn off the tv entirely, because the news channels are so obviously doing Hamas' job for it, by presenting Israel's effort to prevent its own extermination through the eyes of Palestenian war victims. In WWII, CNN, MSNBC, and BBC would have been in Germany and Japan attacking America for defending itself against Hitler and Japan, just as they are doing now in Israel.

    I tried messaging the news networks repeatedly about this on Twitter and it was like screaming at waves coming in from the ocean. Totally pointless. Compounding the problem is we are now discovering that all of Biden's words in support of Israel were on the condition that they don't actually invade to get rid of Hamas.

    Our hands are being tied behind our backs in Israel by our own media and now by our own president, just like in Ukraine against the Russians. For my own mental health, I've been forced to turn off all of it.

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    Gabrielle G

    I love that you guys can have these one off convos in the skiff! This was a really nice check-in. Luckily I have a good group of Jewish and Israeli friends (and people who like us!). I can’t imagine how lonely it is for progressive Jews right now. Although, I have to say, they should’ve seen this coming from their cohort after May 2021. Thanks for being a voice of sanity.

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    Seth B

    Ah, now 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 the Sarah and Steve I know and cherish. An excellent conversation. I learned quite a bit.

    Bashing "the mainstream media" is not among my usual reflexes, as I'm generally a man of the left (and a subscriber to the NYT to boot), but I too have found the coverage of this conflict in the usual places appalling.

    Anyway, I have time this evening only for this quick note, but I wanted to leave one because I was critical of the two of you recently in the comments of another podcast, and felt a little bad about it - even though I stand by those comments. I have very much appreciated the Dispatch's efforts to make sense of the events in Israel and Gaza.

    A request (perhaps unrealistic, but who knows): A second conversation between Adaam and Haviv Rettig Gur, the Israeli journalist with whom Adaam spoke on the Dispatch Podcast a while back. I thought Gur was outstanding, and would be very curious to hear his thoughts today in a follow-up conversation.

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    Toog

    Steve made a point I think is too seldom raised in the discussion about what journalists do and don’t call “terrorism”. Whatever the arguments about the ongoing definition of Hamas, or others, as terrorist organizations, the easiest thing of all should be to call the actual acts of terror — murdering civilians, mutilating babies, taking hostages and the rest — terrorism.

    Media organizations’ usual defenses of equivocation are revealed as particularly foolish when talking about the specific acts of terror, and I think that deserves more attention.

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    SandyG

    I didn't listen to the podcast. (Too much going on today!) Could someone tell me the answer? Why DO journalists keep screwing up Israel coverage? And which journalists do it?

    It would be much appreciated. Thanks.

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  8. Erika Loveland

    Thank you for this, Sarah and Steve. Loved your insights on best practices in journalism. Perhaps in this context or maybe in context of
    war in Gaza in general, would love to know your thoughts on Tom Friedman’s episode of the NYT Matter of Opinion or his solutions in general. Thanks again - Dispatch is the best!

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      SandyG

      Coould you provide a link to where Friedman talked about journalism and soutions. I can't find it.

      Thx!

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      1. Erika Loveland

        https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/20/opinion/israel-gaza-war-friedman.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

        It’s not explicitly about journalism. More that he is a knowledgeable, respected journalist who is making policy suggestions that seem somewhat reasonable. But I haven’t followed his work closely and wondered if Sarah, Steve et al had thoughts about his bias or his involvement if any in steering the NYT pov they discussed.

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          SandyG

          Ah, I misunderstood you. Thanks for the link.

          I did find it and went through the transcript (it's hard to scan audio or video, so text is much more efficient for me). I've followed Friedman for decades and read some of his books. I don't think he has much bias. Certainly his remarks from the podcast you mentioned show that: "To think about Israel, I think, today, you have to hold three thoughts in your head at the same time. One is that Israel is an amazing place . . . two, Israel does bad stuff . . . third, Israel lives in a crazy dangerous neighborhood."

          “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function” (F. Scott Fitzgerald in his 1936 essay “The Crack-Up”). With Israel, you have to hold three ideas!

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          1. Erika Loveland

            Thank you for your insight, Sandy! I loved those three ideas. The Fitzgerald quote is a great one for this circumstance.

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    Anne W (Raw5254)

    This was excellent!

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    Zach.Mccartney

    Glad y’all did this—I’ve tried really really hard to be more like Steve (and Stirewalt) and take the mainstream media seriously. But goodness gracious how many excuses for flagrant ideological bias have to stack up before we just call it what it is: Worldview Curated Reporting. Sure the facts will (almost always) be technically correct—but the images, headlines, and framing will ALWAYS reflect a progressive worldview. Not to mention the decision to cover/not cover and the volume.

    I think you (Steve) and Stirewalt (who is admittedly catching strays). Have been so immersed in this world that you’re somewhat desensitized to the egregiousness of the gaslighting that’s going on for the 50% of the country who are on the right. You’ve accepted the bias as a matter of course and then begin your evaluation from that framework.

    I am frankly done with the whole project. I’m done bending over backwards to try and be “evenhanded” with people who are astonishingly unaware of their own biases and profoundly arrogant towards their critics.

    The sad thing is—my disgust won’t help the country heal. It will push us further apart. I just can’t take it anymore.

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