"Mainstream media routinely parrot Israel’s propaganda without raising skepticism. In doing so, media outlets are not just misleading readers. They are manufacturing consent and normalizing Israel’s war crimes and crimes against humanity."
May 23, 2025
Re: “When the media gets it wrong, it can be more than just embarrassing”
Marsha Lederman warns of the real-world consequences of media errors — yet her column is a masterclass in selective outrage. It’s almost absurd that she fixates on a corrected UN statistic about how many Palestinian babies will starve in the occupied Gaza Strip, but says nothing about one of the most grotesque, widely circulated lies regarding Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians: the claim that Hamas beheaded Israeli babies.
This falsehood, first reported by i24News and echoed by global media without a shred of evidence, was never verified by Israeli or international authorities — because it never happened. Yet it stoked global hysteria and became propaganda fuel for Israel’s campaign to reduce Palestinians to smithereens.
Mainstream media routinely parrot Israel’s propaganda without raising skepticism. They echo claims that Hamas militants are using Palestinian civilians as human shields, making civilian areas legitimate targets — without evidence. In doing so, media outlets are not just misleading readers. They are manufacturing consent and normalizing Israel’s war crimes and crimes against humanity.
If the media truly wants to stop doing harm, it must stop acting as Israel’s echo chamber and start subjecting Israeli narratives to the same scrutiny it applies elsewhere.
Lynn Naji
Media analyst
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East