Critiques of “the media” tend to treat it as a kind of amorphous entity. But it’s crucial to remember that the media consist of individuals, each influencing coverage, oftentimes based on personal ideological biases. That journalists are biased is troubling enough on its own, but it becomes particularly alarming when reporters express sympathy or support for terrorists. In the coverage of the Hamas–Israel conflict, local Gazan journalists have significantly shaped the narrative consumed by people across the world.
Most recently, Gazan journalists promulgated the despicable lie that Israeli troops were raping Palestinians en masse in Shifa Hospital. The story was so outlandish and counterproductive to Hamas (it unintentionally caused Palestinians to flee toward the south, thereby depriving Hamas of its human shields) that the terror group itself had to issue a statement that the story was false.
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