The Media Accountability Project  

Poor coverage – Media outlet 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: Andrea Woo and Nojoud Al Mallees: “Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu rebukes Mark Carney over Gaza comment at rally”

Media Outlet: The Globe and Mail
Click here to access the piece on-line.

Click here to access a PDF version.

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):
Canadian media has given wall to wall coverage of Mark Carney’s remarks about the genocide in Gaza, his subsequent walking back of that statement, and his comments about not recognizing Palestinian statehood.

Almost without fail, the coverage has framed the claim of genocide as if it comes from nowhere. No context is being added about the many strong conclusions that experts have made about the ongoing genocide, or even the nuance of the case in front of the International Court of Justice.

Further, virtually all journalists are oversimplifying the reality regarding Canada’s arms embargo. Some media says there is an arms embargo, others say there isn’t. The truth is somewhere in between.

In January 2024, Canada stopped approving new permits for the export of military goods to Israel. Then, in September 2024, Canada suspended 30 permits for arms sales to Israel and blocked contracts that would send ammunition to Israel through the U.S. However, what is missing from these articles is that Project Ploughshares recently revealed that Canada still had a contract to send artillery propellants to Israel through the U.S. This agreement came after Canada’s announcement that it was suspending arms exports to Israel, including through the U.S.

• The article states, “On Thursday, [Carney] said he would leave it to international courts to determine whether what is happening in Gaza amounts to genocide, adding that he would never politicize the word.” What the Globe fails to mention, is that the ICJ has already said that South Africa’s initial case against Israel is demonstrated that genocide was “plausible.”
  
  Since then, Israel has only drastically accelerated and enhanced its genocidal actions. Beyond the ICJ, Amnesty International concluded that Israel is committing genocide; The UN Special Rapporteur on the OPT concluded that Israel’s actions meet the definition of genocide; various UN commissions have concluded there is serious risk of genocide; over 800 scholars of international law signed a letter warning of genocide in 2023; DCI-P and Human Rights Watch have also found evidence of war crimes. The list could go on. Mainstream media, and the Globe and Mail in this case, leave all of this aside.
  
  
• As explained above, the article oversimplifies the arms embargo in a misleading way. At the end, it states:
  
  “In January, 2024, Ottawa stopped approving new permits for the export of military goods to Israel. Critics noted that existing arms exports permits were still allowing the shipments of defence products.
  
  “But in September, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly announced Ottawa had suspended 30 permits that had been issued before January to ship military goods to Israel.”
  
  However, Project Ploughshares revealed that Canada still had a contract to send artillery propellants to Israel through the U.S. This is essential context.
  
  
• The article refers to Israel’s “war” in Gaza, which is extremely weak language. Israel has blockaded Gaza and is starving its population. The death toll also receives no context about how it is likely a dramatic undercount. There are many other issues in this vein in the article.
  
  
• While the article cites Netanyahu, there is no balance. There are no new comments from Palestinian organizations or pro-Palestine advocates (besides what the protester shouted), making the story heavily one-sided. Canadians deserve better, fairer coverage of these important events.

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The CJPME Media Centre Team
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