"Blaff’s reporting seems intentionally irresponsible and deceptive. I insist that Blaff and the Ottawa Citizen update the article to give a more accurate portrayal of the contents of the IPC’s May projection, notably “acute food insecurity” in Gaza. If not, I may be required to take this issue to the National Newsmedia Council."
]June 27, 2024
To:
Ari David Blaff, Reporter with National Post
Nicole Feriancek, Editor-in-chief, Ottawa Citizen
Dear Mr. Blaff, Ms. Feriancek,
I was extremely upset by the misleading and selective reporting by Mr. Blaff on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report issued earlier this week in his article, “International group walks back famine warnings in Gaza.” I get the sense that Mr. Blaff and the Ottawa Citizen had a clear agenda in the way they intentionally sought to downplay the true message of the IPC’s report. In doing so, Blaff fell disgracefully short in his professional obligations under the Canadian Association of Journalist’s “Fairness” ethic, whereby, “We recognize that we as journalists and individuals have biases, so we use these ethical guidelines and best practices to mitigate any potential impacts they may have on the fairness and accuracy of our journalism.”
The title of the IPC report is, “GAZA STRIP: IPC Acute Food Insecurity Special Snapshot.” The first few lines of the IPC report are as follows:
A high risk of Famine persists across the whole Gaza Strip as long as conflict continues and humanitarian access is restricted. About 96 percent of the population in the Gaza Strip (2.15M people) face high levels of acute food insecurity through September 2024. While the whole territory is classified in Emergency (IPC Phase 4), over 495,000 people (22 percent of the population) are still facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 5). In this phase, households experience an extreme lack of food, starvation, and exhaustion of coping capacities. Another 745,000 people (33 percent) are classified in Emergency (IPC Phase 4).
Contrast this with the title of Blaff’s article, “International group walks back famine warnings in Gaza,” and the leader, “The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification says its previous projections of famine in Gaza stem from its reliance on 'assumptions and inference.'”
Blaff basically takes a small snippet from the IPC’s May report (“The available evidence does not indicate that famine is currently occurring,”) which referred to a Phase 5 (i.e. full blown famine) it predicted in February (specifically for “northern [Gaza] governorates by the end of May”) which did not occur.
In summary, Blaff chose to ignore every other dire assessment and analysis presented in the IPC’s report (e.g. as per my quote above), and suggest that all projections and warnings of famine and dire food insecurity were overblown. The subsequent interviewee and other elements that Blaff brought into the article all amplified this highly misrepresentative portrayal of the report.
Blaff’s reporting seems intentionally irresponsible and deceptive. I insist that Blaff and the Ottawa Citizen update the article to give a more accurate portrayal of the contents of the IPC’s May projection, notably “acute food insecurity” in Gaza. If not, I may be required to take this issue to the National Newsmedia Council.
There are other issues with Blaff’s reporting on this issue, which are also a telling statement on his professionalism as a journalist:
- Blaff chose to interview only a rep of the right-wing Foundation for Defense of Democracies
- Blaff chose not to interview any aid workers from Gaza
- Blaff chose not to interview any Palestinians
Should you wish to discuss further, you can reach me at 438-380-5410.
Sincerely,
Thomas Woodley, MPA
President, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East