Sayaras
Platinum Member
- Nov 13, 2023
- 5,897
- 3,614
- 938
Despite propaganda and biased Wikipedia...
Media watchdog critiques a fact check published by Poynter and PolitiFact regarding reports of Hamas beheading babies during its October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel. The author, Gilead Ini, argues that these organizations misrepresented and misled readers by conflating two separate claims: the general assertion of beheadings by Hamas and the specific number of 40 babies beheaded. Ini points out that the fact check flip-flops between these two claims and falsely suggests there is no merit to the reports of beheadings, even though evidence from credible sources, including Israeli officials and journalists on the ground, confirms the atrocities.
The fact check is criticized for confusing the reports, misrepresenting the statements of politicians and media outlets, and raising doubts about the beheadings without acknowledging the numerous eyewitness accounts that corroborate the events. Ini emphasizes that while the exact number of decapitated babies may still be unclear, the evidence of beheadings is widely supported by reliable sources. The piece also accuses Poynter and PolitiFact of selective reporting, ignoring statements from key witnesses such as emergency responders and forensic experts who described beheaded victims, including babies.
In conclusion, the author argues that Poynter and PolitiFact's fact check fails in its journalistic duty to provide a full and fair account of the situation and calls for an apology for the misleading coverage.
Snippet from
www.camera.org
On Oct. 11, CBS reported: âYossi Landau, the head of operations for the southern region of Zaka, Israel's volunteer civilian emergency response organization, told CBS News on Wednesday that he personally saw adults and children, including babies, who had been beheaded.â (He repeated the same on the day Poynter published its fact check.)
Also on Oct. 11, IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus told an audience,
we got very, very disturbing reports that came from the ground that there were babies that had been beheaded, and I admit it took us some time to really understand and to verify that report, and it was hard to believe that even Hamas cloud perform such a barbaric act, but after eyewitnesses came forward and after a senior official in the Israeli [coroner] service Zaka came forward on record on CBS news and said, yes, I saw the bodies of beheaded babies, I think we can now say with relative confidence that this is unfortunately what happened in Beâeri.
(Poynter, which insists that âthe Israel Defense Forces had not confirmed how many babies were killed or if any were beheaded,â conceals from readers Conricusâs comment, though it was apparently aware of his wordsâto make a different point, the fact check cites a CNN article that includes the quote.)
That same day, IDF spokesperson Libby Weiss told CBS News âthat more than one of the Israeli soldiers who first reached Kfar Aza reported finding âbeheaded children of varying ages, ranging from babies to slightly older children,â along with adults who had also been dismembered.â
On Oct. 15, the New York Times reported that Col. Golan Vach, the commander of the national search-and-rescue unit, found a murdered mother and child, where "the head of the baby was severed from the torso of the burned remains."
On Oct. 15, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported from the military base housing the corpses of murdered Israelis that âAccording to the people involved in handling the bodies, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuâs description of beheaded babies is accurate.â
On Oct. 16, ABC News reported that a âsenior Israeli officialâ referenced the existence of images of beheaded babies.
On Oct. 20, the Daily Mail quoted an Colonel Rabbi Haim Weisberg, working from the military base identifying the remains of Israelis, saying: âWe have babies with their heads cut off. Bodies without hands, without legs, without genitals.â
Also on Oct. 20, The Media Line reported that Chen Kugel, who runs the National Center for Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv, described beheaded babies:
Kugel also explained that the age range of the victims spans from 3 months to 80 or 90 years old. Many bodies, including those of babies, are without heads.
Asked if they were decapitated, Kugel answered yes. Although he admits that, given the circumstances, itâs difficult to ascertain whether they were decapitated before or after death, as well as how they were beheaded, âwhether cut off by knife or blown off by RPG,â he explained.
Each of these reports preceded Poynterâs fact check. Each tells us more than any journalist or spokesperson who was unable to confirm the atrocities in the first days after the villages were recaptured. None are reflected in the piece.
A good-faith fact checker would account for these reports. If they insist there are compelling reasons to disbelieve Dr. Kugel, Rabbi Weisberg, Yossi Landau, and each of the news reporters responsible for the above stories, they would lay that out as well. But to ignore these accounts, to falsely report that there is no corroboration, or falsely suggest army spokespeople didnât mention beheadings, is unethical.
(Poynter might then consider revisiting the issue to explain away subsequent coverage: France 24âs Oct 27 report quoting Col. Vach, who recounted (..), âI saw a decapitated baby. I took it up with my hands and I carried it, and I put it in the body bag. I personally did it.â Or USA Todayâs Oct. 31 report that âa group of 200 forensic pathologists, anthropologists, radiologists and other experts from Israel, the U.S, Switzerland, New Zealand and elsewhere ⌠reported on Oct. 16 that victims of the Hamas attack were executed, bound and burned alive, and others were found decapitated â many of whom were babies.â Or Sky Newsâs Nov. 5 post (..) noting, âImages seen by Sky News show ⌠a child beheaded.â)
Hamas committed countless atrocities during its Oct 7 massacre. Among the thousand-plus civilians slaughtered, there is evidence that the Palestinian attackers of shot, stabbed, beheaded, burned, and raped civilians of all ages. The multiple reports of decapitated babies moves the needle only so much. But in the aftermath of the attack, a cottage industry of fact-checks like the one published by Poynter has flourished. Many commit the same journalistic sinsâlatching on too tightly to confusion about numbers, clinging too eagerly to spokesmen and journalists who werenât in a position to confirm accounts of the atrocities, all while ignoring the breadth of evidence.
Not all of those raising questions are considered credible fact checkers. Poynter and PolitiFact believe themselves to be. They owe readers an editorsâ note apologizing for the sloppy and misleading fact check.
_______
Then:
NOV. 27, 2023 UPDATE:
PolitiFact and Poynter Retract!
As a result of CAMERA's critique, PolitiFact and Poynter reviewed, archived, and replaced their piece discussed here, which had misled readers on several counts and suggested there was no merit to the charge that Hamas decapitated Israeli babies.
A Nov. 14 editor's note published on the Poynter website in place of the original article states, "A few weeks after we published this Oct. 20 story (Headline: Israel-Hamas war: How politicians, media outlets amplified uncorroborated report of beheaded babies), we learned that we neglected some available information that would have shaped our reporting differently."
A Nov. 21 editor's note on the PolitiFact website explains that "PolitiFact began reviewing the story after the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis, a media watchdog group, criticized our reporting in a Nov. 8 story." The note acknowledges that PolitiFact erred in publishing the piece as it appeared, and states that that the piece has been moved to the PolitiFact archives. "Because our initial story was incomplete, and discussed the narrative in the context of misinformation, we have archived the original version."
PolitFact published a "revised version" on Nov. 21 to replace the original story. "We corrected and recast that story following an article by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis," an editor's note atop of new piece states. That new piece redresses the severe problems that had originally plagued the report.
Media watchdog critiques a fact check published by Poynter and PolitiFact regarding reports of Hamas beheading babies during its October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel. The author, Gilead Ini, argues that these organizations misrepresented and misled readers by conflating two separate claims: the general assertion of beheadings by Hamas and the specific number of 40 babies beheaded. Ini points out that the fact check flip-flops between these two claims and falsely suggests there is no merit to the reports of beheadings, even though evidence from credible sources, including Israeli officials and journalists on the ground, confirms the atrocities.
The fact check is criticized for confusing the reports, misrepresenting the statements of politicians and media outlets, and raising doubts about the beheadings without acknowledging the numerous eyewitness accounts that corroborate the events. Ini emphasizes that while the exact number of decapitated babies may still be unclear, the evidence of beheadings is widely supported by reliable sources. The piece also accuses Poynter and PolitiFact of selective reporting, ignoring statements from key witnesses such as emergency responders and forensic experts who described beheaded victims, including babies.
In conclusion, the author argues that Poynter and PolitiFact's fact check fails in its journalistic duty to provide a full and fair account of the situation and calls for an apology for the misleading coverage.
Snippet from
Update: Poynter, PolitiFact âFact Checkâ Retracted After CAMERA Intervention
11/27 Update: Prompted by CAMERA's critique, PolitiFact and Poynter reviewed, archived and replaced a story that had misled readers on several counts and suggested
www.camera.org
Full Reporting
If Poynter or any other news organization chooses to publish an in-depth investigation into reports of a gruesome atrocity, they have a responsibility to do so fully and fairly. This would require citing not only those who hadnât encountered evidence of the atrocity, but also the full range of eyewitnesses and senior recovery workers.On Oct. 11, CBS reported: âYossi Landau, the head of operations for the southern region of Zaka, Israel's volunteer civilian emergency response organization, told CBS News on Wednesday that he personally saw adults and children, including babies, who had been beheaded.â (He repeated the same on the day Poynter published its fact check.)
Also on Oct. 11, IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus told an audience,
we got very, very disturbing reports that came from the ground that there were babies that had been beheaded, and I admit it took us some time to really understand and to verify that report, and it was hard to believe that even Hamas cloud perform such a barbaric act, but after eyewitnesses came forward and after a senior official in the Israeli [coroner] service Zaka came forward on record on CBS news and said, yes, I saw the bodies of beheaded babies, I think we can now say with relative confidence that this is unfortunately what happened in Beâeri.
(Poynter, which insists that âthe Israel Defense Forces had not confirmed how many babies were killed or if any were beheaded,â conceals from readers Conricusâs comment, though it was apparently aware of his wordsâto make a different point, the fact check cites a CNN article that includes the quote.)
That same day, IDF spokesperson Libby Weiss told CBS News âthat more than one of the Israeli soldiers who first reached Kfar Aza reported finding âbeheaded children of varying ages, ranging from babies to slightly older children,â along with adults who had also been dismembered.â
On Oct. 15, the New York Times reported that Col. Golan Vach, the commander of the national search-and-rescue unit, found a murdered mother and child, where "the head of the baby was severed from the torso of the burned remains."
On Oct. 15, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported from the military base housing the corpses of murdered Israelis that âAccording to the people involved in handling the bodies, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuâs description of beheaded babies is accurate.â
On Oct. 16, ABC News reported that a âsenior Israeli officialâ referenced the existence of images of beheaded babies.
On Oct. 20, the Daily Mail quoted an Colonel Rabbi Haim Weisberg, working from the military base identifying the remains of Israelis, saying: âWe have babies with their heads cut off. Bodies without hands, without legs, without genitals.â
Also on Oct. 20, The Media Line reported that Chen Kugel, who runs the National Center for Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv, described beheaded babies:
Kugel also explained that the age range of the victims spans from 3 months to 80 or 90 years old. Many bodies, including those of babies, are without heads.
Asked if they were decapitated, Kugel answered yes. Although he admits that, given the circumstances, itâs difficult to ascertain whether they were decapitated before or after death, as well as how they were beheaded, âwhether cut off by knife or blown off by RPG,â he explained.
Each of these reports preceded Poynterâs fact check. Each tells us more than any journalist or spokesperson who was unable to confirm the atrocities in the first days after the villages were recaptured. None are reflected in the piece.
A good-faith fact checker would account for these reports. If they insist there are compelling reasons to disbelieve Dr. Kugel, Rabbi Weisberg, Yossi Landau, and each of the news reporters responsible for the above stories, they would lay that out as well. But to ignore these accounts, to falsely report that there is no corroboration, or falsely suggest army spokespeople didnât mention beheadings, is unethical.
(Poynter might then consider revisiting the issue to explain away subsequent coverage: France 24âs Oct 27 report quoting Col. Vach, who recounted (..), âI saw a decapitated baby. I took it up with my hands and I carried it, and I put it in the body bag. I personally did it.â Or USA Todayâs Oct. 31 report that âa group of 200 forensic pathologists, anthropologists, radiologists and other experts from Israel, the U.S, Switzerland, New Zealand and elsewhere ⌠reported on Oct. 16 that victims of the Hamas attack were executed, bound and burned alive, and others were found decapitated â many of whom were babies.â Or Sky Newsâs Nov. 5 post (..) noting, âImages seen by Sky News show ⌠a child beheaded.â)
Hamas committed countless atrocities during its Oct 7 massacre. Among the thousand-plus civilians slaughtered, there is evidence that the Palestinian attackers of shot, stabbed, beheaded, burned, and raped civilians of all ages. The multiple reports of decapitated babies moves the needle only so much. But in the aftermath of the attack, a cottage industry of fact-checks like the one published by Poynter has flourished. Many commit the same journalistic sinsâlatching on too tightly to confusion about numbers, clinging too eagerly to spokesmen and journalists who werenât in a position to confirm accounts of the atrocities, all while ignoring the breadth of evidence.
Not all of those raising questions are considered credible fact checkers. Poynter and PolitiFact believe themselves to be. They owe readers an editorsâ note apologizing for the sloppy and misleading fact check.
_______
Then:
NOV. 27, 2023 UPDATE:
PolitiFact and Poynter Retract!
As a result of CAMERA's critique, PolitiFact and Poynter reviewed, archived, and replaced their piece discussed here, which had misled readers on several counts and suggested there was no merit to the charge that Hamas decapitated Israeli babies.
A Nov. 14 editor's note published on the Poynter website in place of the original article states, "A few weeks after we published this Oct. 20 story (Headline: Israel-Hamas war: How politicians, media outlets amplified uncorroborated report of beheaded babies), we learned that we neglected some available information that would have shaped our reporting differently."
A Nov. 21 editor's note on the PolitiFact website explains that "PolitiFact began reviewing the story after the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis, a media watchdog group, criticized our reporting in a Nov. 8 story." The note acknowledges that PolitiFact erred in publishing the piece as it appeared, and states that that the piece has been moved to the PolitiFact archives. "Because our initial story was incomplete, and discussed the narrative in the context of misinformation, we have archived the original version."
PolitFact published a "revised version" on Nov. 21 to replace the original story. "We corrected and recast that story following an article by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis," an editor's note atop of new piece states. That new piece redresses the severe problems that had originally plagued the report.
Last edited:
