Many other important points can be raised. We encourage you to read carefully and put points into your own words. The article ultimately suppresses pro-Palestine voices and amplifies pro-Israel organizations. It misrepresents pro-Palestine advocacy and editorializes far beyond the norms of ethical journalism.
Poor coverage – Journalist to be critiqued
A CJPME Media Researcher has launched a media alert for the following article. Please submit a quick response to the media, even if it’s just a sentence or two:
Title of Piece: Paige Peacock: "’A lost cause’: Jewish organizations condemn Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish for comparing Hamas leader to Nelson Mandela"
Media Outlet: The Pointer
Click here to access the piece on-line.
Comments of the CJPME Media Researcher:
(Note: Please do not copy and paste the material below as the content to your message to the media - put all comments in your own words):
In an article rife with violations of journalistic standards, Paige Peacock imbues story with her personal views on Palestinians. The article is funded by a Canadian federal grant for community newspapers, the Local Journalism Initiative. The funding is supposed to support “civic journalism” of a high standard, but this article falls very short. Canada should not be subsidizing anti-Palestinian reporting.
- The article accuses Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish of “comparing” Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to Nelson Mandela. This is misleading, as the Mayor’s comments were not comparing the individuals as the writing suggests but merely referred to the fact that both were viewed as “terrorists” by Western powers.
- Peacock claims that Sinwar was “responsible for the deaths of more than a thousand innocent civilians targeted in the attacks on October 7th.”This is false. The actual number of civilians killed, according to Israel, stands at 695 Israeli civilians and 71 foreign nationals. The rest of those killed on October 7 within Israel were security forces. Additionally, many reports have found that Israel was responsible for killing many Israelis, both during battles in kibbutz and while some Israeli captives were being brought back into Gaza.
- The journalist praises Mandela as a “beloved human rights hero” and then writes that Sinwar “orchestrated the murder, torture and rape of innocent civilians.” While journalists are entitled to their opinions on issues that they do not cover, it is a serious violation of journalistic standards to so heavily editorialize an article in this manner, regardless of the topic and content.
- Many other important points can be raised. We encourage you to read carefully and put points into your own words. The article ultimately suppresses pro-Palestine voices and amplifies pro-Israel organizations. It misrepresents pro-Palestine advocacy and editorializes far beyond the norms of ethical journalism.
We have included the journalists email as well as that of the Editor-in-Chief of The Pointer.
Please click here to launch an email in which you can draft a response to this media coverage.
Thank you very much. Every response makes a difference.
The CJPME Media Centre Team
Email CJPME - CJPME Website