Associated Press Guidelines Favors The Hamas Propaganda War — Reporters Told To Avoid Using ‘Terrorist’
It appears that the Regime Media has picked a side in this conflict.
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The Associated Press has issued a topical guide for the Israel-Hamas conflict to advise journalists on the language to use when reporting on the war.
The guide states, “terrorism and terrorist have become politicized, and often are applied inconsistently … the AP is not using the terms for specific actions or groups, other than in direct quotations.”
Hamas is an Islamist jihadi group that states in its charter that it is committed to the complete destruction of the state of Israel and annihilation of all Jews around the world.
They have made this goal clear with the ongoing targeting of Israeli civilians with rockets launched at schools and hospitals, suicide bombings at pizza parlors and clubs, and other terrorist attacks.
These attacks have continued after every two-state solution Israel has been open to — even after all Israeli settlements in Gaza were dismantled and settlers were evacuated back in 2005. This ongoing conflict is not about land.
As the world saw on October 7, Hamas is very proud of the terror that it inflicts on Israelis — the horrific videos we have seen of the atrocities committed on that day were filmed and posted online by Hamas.
Dozens of countries have labeled Hamas a terrorist organization.
Nevertheless, the AP advises calling them “militants” and not “terrorists.”
“Terms such as Hamas fighters, attackers or combatants are also acceptable depending on the context,” states the guide.
The AP style guide is used by dozens of news organizations and will directly affect the way that outlets report the news on the ongoing war in Gaza.
Perhaps we shouldn’t be listening to the AP on how to cover their former officemates since they may have been compromised by Hamas.
No, really.
Matti Friedman, a former AP editor, wrote two essays in 2014 stating that news organizations like the one he used to work for had been “compromised” by Hamas.
In 2021, an Israeli airstrike in Gaza hit the Associated Press offices, and the organization reported that it was “shocking and horrifying” that Israel would target their office building .
But it looks like it wasn’t a case of Israel trying to stifle the free press.
Friedman tweeted that he was told that Hamas had offices in the same building despite the AP’s denials.
In my two essays from 2014, I gave multiple examples of the way news organizations like the AP had been compromised by Hamas in Gaza. Contrary to what I’ve seen attributed to me today, I didn’t write that Hamas operated out of the same building, and don’t know if that’s true.
— Matti Friedman (@MattiFriedman) May 16, 2021
The army legal advisers who approve these strikes were convinced that the intel and the military logic could be defended, meaning they saw proof. And because hitting press offices is a net negative for Israel, the army seems to have had a target it considered worth the fallout.
— Matti Friedman (@MattiFriedman) May 16, 2021
Any press organization operating in a dictatorship is going to be compromised, and will further compromise itself to conceal how it has been compromised. It’s not a new story, or one limited to the AP, or to Gaza. I wrote about it here: https://t.co/knuj5T3ce1
— Matti Friedman (@MattiFriedman) May 16, 2021
That would be consistent with Hamas’s M.O. of hiding military assets behind civilians so that when Israel retaliates, they can still claim a propaganda win by painting Israel as callous war criminals.
That’s what happened when the entire Regime Media universe were jumping to quickly parrot Hamas talking points on the Gaza hospital story that angered pro-Palestinian protesters around the world and fanned the flames of violence all over the world. American embassies were attacked and vandalized, and as Biden was on his way to the Middle East to hold talks with leaders of Jordan, Egypt, and the Palestinian Authority, they canceled their meetings because of that false report.
“Fake News” has consequences.
Libs And Journos POUNCE On Gaza Hospital ‘Bombing’ — There’s Just One BIG Problem…
Language matters.
The Washington Post learned that the hard way last week.
WaPo Caption Said Israeli Children Held As Hostages In Gaza Were ‘Detained’ By Hamas
The quicker the global public understands that Hamas is waging both a military offensive and a propaganda war, the easier it will be to understand what is happening over there.
Here’s a quick primer — all deaths on both sides are the fault of Hamas because they started this war with a horrific terror attack and then hid behind innocents.
Before an airstrike, Israel drops flyers urging civilians to evacuate, but Hamas tells civilians to ignore the Israeli appeals. Some have reported that Hamas blocked off roads that would allow civilians to leave Gaza City. If that is the case, then this is a massive hostage crisis not only of the people that were kidnapped from Israel on October 7, but of the citizens of Gaza.
The death of their own people that they parade around is a propaganda win for Hamas, and the compliant press is more than happy to repeat the absurd death toll numbers provided to them by terrorists.
Ask yourself why that is…
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