NEW YORK TIMES DIRECTS REPORTERS TO AVOID AWKWARD TERMINOLOGY AND PUSH PRO-ISRAEL POINTS

Thu 18 April 2024:

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According to an internal memo obtained by The Intercept, the New York Times has directed its journalists covering Israel’s war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to limit the use of certain awkward terminology such as “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” and to “avoid” using the phrase “occupied territory” when describing Palestinian land.

The memo, which has been heavily criticized, raises further concerns about the newspaper’s neutrality. It also instructs reporters not to use the word “Palestine” unless in “very rare cases” and to avoid using the term “refugee camps” when referring to parts of Gaza settled by Palestinians ethnically displaced when Israel was established in Palestine during the 1948 Nakba.

The NYT’s style guide, which in a number of cases runs counter to norms established by the UN and international humanitarian law, has led to allegations that the newspaper is misinforming readers and promoting a pro-Israel narrative in the coverage of the occupation state’s deadly military offensive. The UN, for example, recognises eight refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, home to more than 600,000 registered refugees, many of whom are descendants of Palestinians forcibly expelled from their homes during the Nakba. Despite this, the NYT memo instructs reporters not to use the term refugee camps, instead referring to these areas as “neighbourhoods” or simply “areas”.

Journalists, who requested anonymity due to concerns about potential retaliation from their employer, shared their views on the controversial memo with The Intercept. One reporter said that the guidance on the use of the term “occupied territories” obscures the reality of the conflict and feeds into the US and Israeli insistence that the conflict began on 7 October last year, rather than acknowledging the long-standing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. The UN and much of the international community consider Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem to be occupied Palestinian territories, seized by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

The newspaper defended the memo, claiming that it aims to “ensure accuracy, consistency, and nuance in how we cover the news.” However, The Intercept’s study of its coverage, as well as that of other mainstream news sites, from October 7 to November 24, reveals a dramatic disparity in the vocabulary used to describe Israeli strikes and Palestinian attacks.

For example, the New York Times referred to Israeli killings as a “massacre” 53 times while using the phrase only once to describe Palestinian deaths, despite the fact that the number of Palestinians dead had risen to around 15,000 by November 24. Similarly, the word “slaughter” was used 22 times more frequently to describe Israeli deaths than Palestinian ones.

The leaked memo has sparked intense debate within the NYT newsroom, with some staffers arguing that the paper’s coverage has been “deferential” to Israel’s narrative and has failed to apply even standards in its reporting. The newspaper has faced criticism in the past for its coverage of Israel and Palestine, with accusations of bias and a lack of context in its reporting.

As the death toll in Gaza continues to mount, with estimates topping 33,000, including at least 15,000 children, the New York Times’ alleged propagation of a pro-Israel narrative in its coverage has come under increasing scrutiny. Media watchdogs and human rights campaigners are urging the newspaper to reconsider its style guide and produce more balanced and honest reporting on the subject, in accordance with international conventions and humanitarian law.

-MEMO

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