"Considering this lack of responsiveness and accountability, I am curious whether there is a more useful contact at the Associated Press. If so, please pass it on. If not, I would appreciate verbal confirmation that the Associated Press is not interested in feedback and criticism for improved reporting."
May 16, 2024
To:
Tia Goldenberg, Journalist, The Associated Press
Abby Sewell, Journalist, The Associated Press
Wafaa Shurafa, Journalist, The Associated Press
Julie Pace, Executive Editor, The Associated Press
Josef Federman, News Director, Jerusalem, The Associated Press
John Daniszewski, Standards Editor, The Associated Press
Dear AP Editors and respective journalists,
I'd like to express concern regarding one of your recent articles titled, "Palestinians across the Middle East mark their original ‘catastrophe’ with eyes on the war in Gaza," published on May 15 in the Associated Press." While this article exhibits clear violations of journalistic standards, like a blatant dehumanization of Palestinians and a lack of precision, I am more so concerned by the fact that this type of reporting is commonplace for the Associated Press. I've regularly reached out and requested edits and have never received any response from anyone at the Associated Press. Here are some examples:
- As early as February 14, I emailed Dan Taylor, Julie Pace, Josef Federman, and the relevant journalist requesting that an article be adjusted to represent the conclusions and provisional measures issued by the ICJ more accurately. I've received no response and observed no changes to the article in question.
- On February 27, I emailed a similar list of people at AP requesting that the obfuscating language used to describe Aaron Bushnell's protest be edited immediately. Despite the widespread circulation of his very last words, AP opted to manipulate his words and state that his actions were in protest of the "Israel-Hamas war." I've received no response and observed no changes.
- On March 25, I emailed the same editors condemning the Associated Press' tendency to value Israeli claims more than Palestinian testimonies. This article blatantly undermined and misreported Israel's military siege on al-Shifa hospital by omitting Palestinian claims of torture and execution. Alarmingly, I've received no response and observed no edits.
- On April 16, I asked that AP include reports of Israeli civilians being killed by friendly fire on Oct. 7. I've received no response and observed no changes.
- On April 29, I emailed the same list of editors criticizing the fact that Associated Press has reported more on largely empty concerns of antisemitism on college campuses than the actual genocide students are protesting against. The encampments' clearly stated demands were omitted from the article despite their widespread accessibility. I've received no response and observed no changes.
Several more examples exhibit this pattern. Today, I am concerned by a recent article titled, “Palestinians across the Middle East mark their original ‘catastrophe’ with eyes on the war in Gaza.” Mainstream media outlets in Canada have a history of being reluctant to use the word Palestine. Some never use the word at all, opting instead to only talk about “Palestinians” while excluding their land, or just referring to it as "modern day Israel." Despite being an article about the Nakba, published on Nakba Day, "Palestine" is not mentioned once, and the names of Palestinian villages from which Palestinians were forcibly displaced only twice. Here are some cases where Palestine could have been used, but AP opted for terms like “what is now Israel.”
- "Palestinians across the Middle East on Wednesday are marking the anniversary of their mass expulsion from what is now Israel..."
- "The Nakba, Arabic for “catastrophe,” refers to the 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were driven out of what today is Israel before and during the 1948 war..."
- "...with most families having been pushed out of what is now central and southern Israel."
Only at one point do you write that "Amina Taher recalled the day her family’s house in the village of Deir al-Qassi, in today’s northern Israel, collapsed over their heads after being shelled by Israeli forces in 1948." Palestine has long existed both as a political and geographic concept — “Palestine” is not a modern invention. Refusing to use the word “Palestine” suggests a racist denial of Palestinians’ very existence, homeland, culture, history, and heritage. According to the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association, refusing to use the word "Palestine" is a form of anti-Palestinian racism because it erases Palestinians and their narratives, denies the Nakba, and refuses to acknowledge Palestinians as indigenous people with a collective identity. I urge the Associated Press to opt for "Palestine" instead of "what is now Israel."
As written in AP's Policies, responsibility for upholding Associated Press standards rests with your reporters, editors, and supervisors. According to my complaints above, it is clear that the Associated Press has violated commonly accepted journalistic standards and has, even worse, closed itself off to meaningful dialogue with its readers. Considering this lack of responsiveness and accountability, I am curious whether there is a more useful contact at the Associated Press. If so, please pass it on. If not, I would appreciate verbal confirmation that the Associated Press is not interested in feedback and criticism for improved reporting.
Sincerely,
Rose Mardikian,
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East