Hundreds of civilians were murdered after an airstrike hit a hospital in Gaza City. Israel carried it out. No, it was Islamic jihad that did it.
Tuesday’s churning Israel–Hamas battle saw the emergence of a number of high-stakes allegations, posing one of the toughest tasks yet for news organizations attempting to make sense of the confusion and explain the situation to the rest of the world as it observes the bloody conflict develop.
Some of the biggest and most respectable news outlets in the world mindlessly repeated accusations made by the Hamas-run Palestinian government, which blamed Israel for the bloodshed, in the immediate wake of the fatal hospital explosion. In their initial stories, some news organizations even asserted unequivocally that Israel was accountable.
Yet soon after the initial stories, a more nuanced image started to take shape. The Israel Defense Forces categorically refuted any involvement in the hospital attack or the tragic civilian losses. Instead, the IDF pointed the finger at a rival Islamist organization in Gaza, claiming that it was responsible for the terrible episode by firing an unintentional missile toward the hospital.
The sudden ambiguity and the IDF’s statement were promptly covered by news organizations. Chyrons for cable news were modified. Rewritten ledes. Changed in headlines.
The IDF reprimanded the press as a result of the turnabout.
The IDF said on social media that “media outlets around the world were eager to run headlines from Hamas without fact-checking.”
Additionally, an IDF official criticized the BBC for its coverage of the explosion during an appearance on the network, accusing it of “taking Hamas information and displaying that as the truth.”
However, despite Israel’s vehement denial, news media are still unable to conclusively state what happened, placing them in a challenging situation and confusing audiences.
War creates turmoil everywhere it goes, especially for the reporters sent to report on its tragedies. In the midst of a struggle or when there is a rush to educate the public about a situation that is developing quickly, mistakes can be made. History’s initial draft is rarely flawless. There is a very real fog of war.
However, there isn’t much room for error. Reports on grave issues involving the deaths of civilians carry immense weight and frequently have an instant impact. In this instance, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, called off his meeting with Vice President Joe Biden shortly after rumors surfaced that Israel had struck the Gaza hospital. Additionally, protests broke out throughout the Middle East.
There isn’t a perfect answer. Furthermore, hindsight is always 20/20. However, it bears emphasizing that news organizations must maintain a high level of attention at all times, particularly during moments of breaking news when the stakes are extremely high and the situation is still changing.
Failure to do so puts civilians in the heart of a conflict between warring factions who are retreating even more into their separate corners and intentionally misinforming the public.