"We insist on your reporting being impartial and precise, which is crucial for journalistic work. Having a framing that runs on "Israel says" and "Hamas run" is unfair reporting, especially in the context of a genocidal war in Gaza, where an actor has considerable military and media leverage in its favor on the other."
Dear AP and CTV News editorial team,
I am writing to you on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, regarding the article entitled "Iranian media say 1 killed in ship strike on the Strait of Hormuz, and other Mideast developments", published on September 13th.
The article has many problematic passages.
Firstly, the first paragraph casts doubt on the fact of the 1 dead from the bombing on the Iranian commercial ship by mentioning "Iranian state media. This implies that any claim coming from Iranian media isn't to be trusted, simply for it being Iranian media.
Secondly, the mention of the 2 deaths in Gaza after a recent Israeli airstrike only mentions the Israeli military version of them being Hamas members. It is important as part of your journalistic work to be impartial and diverse when it comes to sources.
Thirdly, even though you have mentioned the internationally recognized reliability of the detailed records of Gaza's Health Ministry, framing the Health Ministry as "Hamas-run" casts it as unreliable. The CBC Ombudsman pushes back against "Hamas-run" editorializing.
We insist on your reporting being impartial and precise, which is crucial for journalistic work. Having a framing that runs on "Israel says" and "Hamas run" is unfair reporting, especially in the context of a genocidal war in Gaza, where an actor has considerable military and media leverage in its favor on the other.
Cordially,
Hassan El-Khansa
Volunteer Media analyst