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 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: Marcia Young, John Northcott: World Report, Wednesday's top stories in 10 minutes
Media Outlet: CBC
Click here to access the piece online - Starts at 1 minute
Click here to access a transcript of the segment
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):
On May 15, World Report covered Israeli airstrikes in Gaza that killed over 100 people, including at least 28 in a hospital in Khan Yunis. During the segment (which starts at 1 minute mark) the host fails to mention that hospitals are protected under international law and does not acknowledge the attacks as war crimes. Instead, it centers Israeli claims that its military is targeting Hamas command centers across the territory without evidence, effectively normalizing the bombing of medical facilities amid a genocide.
- The report amplified Israeli statements claiming the attacks targeted Hamas command centers, without offering any independent verification, counterpoints from Palestinian sources, or commentary from international human rights observers. In doing so, CBC violated the basic journalistic principle of balance.
- By failing to challenge the Israeli military’s narrative or present alternative perspectives, the segment functioned more as state messaging than independent journalism. In a context where Israel has a well-documented history of misrepresenting facts during military operations, it is imperative that CBC qualify such claims as allegations and not as facts.
- The bombing of a hospital, regardless of alleged military presence, is prohibited under international humanitarian law unless the facility is being used for acts harmful to the enemy and even then only after appropriate warnings. The segment never once referenced the Geneva Conventions or framed this attack as a potential violation of international law. To be clear, these are war crimes, and part of a disturbing trend in Canadian media coverage that treats Palestinian lives as statistics.
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A forensic investigation by Sky News exposed major flaws in Israel’s justification for the hospital strike. Their team confirmed that the IDF’s video evidence did not show the hospital but an adjacent school. The investigation also concluded that the supposed “underground infrastructure” shown in the footage was actually drainage ditches, not tunnels. Despite the availability of this verifiable, public evidence, CBC’s segment made no mention of it. This exclusion seriously undermines CBC’s duty to inform the public based on facts and independent analysis. Furthermore, the Israeli military has officially acknowledged to Israeli outlet HaMakom HaKhi Ham that over 80 per cent of those killed in Gaza since March 18 were civilians uninvolved in combat confirming what Palestinians have long said. The explosive admission comes two months after Israel unilaterally broke the ceasefire to resume its assault.
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The CJPME Media Centre Team
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