What gets me ab western mainstream news coverage of the genocide in Palestine—besides the obvious lack of morality—is that it’s, frankly, shit journalism.
(For context, I’m a journalism major with a focus in print reporting. This is literally what I’m going to school for.)
(Forgive me if this is slightly disorganized. Harder to write when I’m pissed.)
My instructors tell me ab the importance of active voice over passive voice all. The. Time. There’s a difference, for example, between “More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed” and “Israel has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians.”
More recently, I’ve had instructors tell me to be more skeptical of official sources (e.g. police), fact-check their claims and get alternative sources whenever possible.
But, from what I’ve seen, a lot of outlets seem to just take Israel’s word as fact without searching for further evidence. For example, when Israel made that claim—with no real evidence—ab the 40 beheaded babies and it was everywhere. And then they said they can’t confirm shit, and now these outlets have to backpedal.
And of course, on top of the blatant misuse of language (beyond just active vs passive voice) and the false/unsupported reporting, there’s the lack of reporting.
I don’t see western mainstream outlets quoting the assholes who call Palestinians “human animals.”
I don’t see them pointing out the sickening abundance of social media posts of Israelis celebrating the genocide, of IDF posing in front of the rubble of what once was Gaza or with the undergarments of the Palestinian women and girls they raped.
I don’t see them setting their headlines ablaze with the countless historic holy sites Israel has destroyed, mosques and churches alike that were some of the oldest in the world. (But when Notre Dame was on fire—)
I don’t even see the context of the more than 75 years of Israel’s bullshit leading up to now.
Where is the coverage of the entire families Israel have wiped out? Where is the coverage of how Israel treats its hostages? Where is the coverage of the Palestinian people’s injuries, physical and mental, and the reason for the lack of proper medical aid?
Countless children in Gaza have to undergo amputations in unsanitary environments without anesthesia. Where’s the coverage?
Who is asking Biden the important questions? Like, if you’re trying so hard for a ceasefire, why has the United States vetoed United Nations resolutions for an immediate ceasefire three times since Oct. 7? Why a temporary ceasefire instead of a permanent one?
How ab Israel’s attack on Rafah during the Super Bowl?? Rafah the designated safe zone?? While airing a $7 million ad?? During what is arguably the most famous and most-watched sports event in the U.S., which has given billions of dollars in support of Israel’s genocide?? How are these outlets not blowing up????? This is a U.S.-funded slaughter during a national event???? Is this not newsworthy enough for you??????????????
Maybe they include some of these things in their articles. But when and if they do, is it a full-fledged story or just a brief?
Is it toward the top of the page or buried lower? (Journalists typically use the inverted pyramid style, which means the most important information in a story is at the top.)
I understand that, as journalists, we have to be objective. But this is not objective reporting. It is clearly biased in favor of Israel. If it were any other country, any other people under siege, this would all look a lot different.
On the topic of objectivity, I’ve heard a few arguments along the lines of, “We can’t pick a side.” But is there truly more than one side to this crisis?
One instructor of mine has said that “both sides” is a false dichotomy, meaning there are rarely ever exactly two sides to any given issue. Sometimes that means there are more than two sides, and sometimes that means there is really only one.
Coincidently, an example he gave of only one side was the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. Even though there are assholes who say otherwise, it was real. It happened. It was wrong. There’s no other way to look at it.
Ik that journalists bending objectivity and imposing morality in reporting is a relatively recent and controversial debate within the media industry.
But.
If we do some actual goddamn reporting—take the numbers and the quotes and the experiences caught on video and add them all together—we start to paint a pretty clear picture of who is the victim here. And who is responsible for the atrocities.
Just bc our government supports Israel does not mean Israel perspective is on equal footing with, much less more important than, Palestine’s.
When Palestine’s death toll is roughly 30 times that of Israel’s, there’s only one side.
This is some pretty shit journalism.
I’d look forward to hearing from other journalists/student journalists what they think ab coverage of the genocide.
Personally, I’m a little heartbroken that some of these outlets I’ve looked up to and dreamed ab being a part of someday have been so lacking in their coverage—to say the least. Especially since journalism is so important and is supposed to be a major means of holding people in power accountable for their actions.
Life’s bitter irony, I suppose.
Free Palestine.
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002/100 Days Of Productivity - 13082023
I have a love-and-hate relationship with Sundays. I feel like it’s a day when you can rest but also take care of yourself and your home, which can mean the same thing sometimes.
This morning I went to the grocery store, and I cooked a delicious Italian oven pasta for lunch. I also called my mom.
Tonight I worked with my bestie on our projects, and it feels good.
Things I need to do and did:
Make a nice desktop set-up for my pc
Clean my pc and iPad
Create that notion template
Find a job
Finish that book
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it's so funny how studying journalism and getting to know journalistic principles led only to realisation that capitalist media are inherently rotten and can never work
today it really hit me that no matter what i do, i alone can not go against the whole capitalism doomwheel that spins every media, no matter how alternative, because they have value only when tbey survive on the capitalist driven market
nobody cares about what you write about, nobody cares about justice or truth or finding out things nobody else looked for, finding injustice and having the power to shed light onto it
it is just about the profit and how to get as much money the easiest way possible
today is the day my hopes and dreams were definitelly shattered
honestly, i give up on the field
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the journalism students
the smell of freshly printed ink
a notebook tucked into the inside pocket of your coat
taking notice of everything that happens around you
staying up to date with current events
the bold print of an above-the-fold headline
analyzing cause and effect of major world events
a lanyard around your neck
meticulously crafting worthwhile interview questions
hot coffee warming your hands in the early morning
wanting to educate the public
valuing truth and confidentiality
the satisfaction of seeing your name in the byline
smudges of newspaper ink on your hands
the rapid click click click of your fingers on the keyboard
staying up late to finish an article before the deadline
listening to the news on the radio while you get ready in the morning
newspaper cutouts pinned on your walls
always having a pen nearby
fighting against the proliferation of misinformation
debating the benefits of print vs digital journalism
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Hi everyone!
Since I will start university soon, I created a new blog to be more involved with the studyblr community. ✧ ˚ · .
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
Some facts about me:
Name: Mara
Age: 24
Degree: Bachelor of Arts
Major: Fashion Journalism and Content Creation
Location: UK
Nationality: Italian
More about me + my tags ↴
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
I like: big cities during the rain, new books and new stationary smells, my journal, autumn, board games, baking cakes and muffins!!
I dislike: the distance between me and my bestie, food with sweet pistachio, waiting for a new tv show season, fantasy books
Things I’d like to do more: take more pictures, read, paint, write
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
My tags:
• All my world: #notes-in-bloom
• Text posts: #notes-in-words
• Music posts: #notes-in-music
• Movie posts: #notes-in-movies
• My pics: #notes-in-pics
• My tips: #notes-in-tips
• Reblogs: #notes-in-reblogs
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
It’s nice meeting you ✧˖*°࿐
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Some days,
I stare up at the ceiling
and I wish I could have followed through with that desire to fix things and take things apart from when I was a kid.
Sometimes, I dream about having a little shop in a little town, fixing people's computers and household appliances. When robots become a more common thing, I'll fix those too.
But in my desire for a path to follow, I have often found that I took one that I cannot stray from. Not for a while at least.
Though I guess that would be the case with any path I had chosen.
Why must a man only have one life, and pursue only one way of life?
Why can't I do everything, everywhere, all at once?
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