Please help us demand improvements to the Toronto Star's latest major article regarding the Canadian policy debate on Gaza. Like much of the Star's recent coverage, it fails to give a full and fair presentation of the situation. This is often at the expense of essential facts and context that add weight to the Palestinian point-of-view.
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: Tonda MacCharles: "Justin Trudeau says Canada would support ‘humanitarian pauses’ in Israel-Hamas war"
Media Outlet: Toronto Star
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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):
Please help us demand improvements to the Toronto Star's latest major article regarding the Canadian policy debate on Gaza.
Like much of the Star's recent coverage, it fails to give a full and fair presentation of the situation. This is often at the expense of essential facts and context that add weight to the Palestinian point-of-view.
The article is centered on the debate around humanitarian 'pauses' or a ceasefire. However, readers unfamiliar with the arguments for a ceasefire would hardly improve their understanding after reading this article. Journalists should not obscure the strong arguments and popular support for a ceasefire.
Some of the points you can refer to you in your letter related to a ceasefire include:
- No mention of how 60+ Canadian civil society organizations have signed on for a call for a ceasefire (https://ceasefirenow.ca/)
- The number of Palestinian children killed is omitted. Israeli forces have already killed 2,360 Palestinian children in Gaza, according to DCI-Palestine
- Omits Palestinian injury numbers and the unthinkable damage to Gaza’s infrastructure (including health centres, schools, residential buildings, and more)
- No mention of the Palestinian-Canadians stuck in Gaza and Palestine, despite mentioning Israeli-Canadian hostages and deaths
Other problems with the article you might address are:
- Active language is used to describe Israeli deaths ("1,400 Israelis killed") while passive language is used to describe Palestinian deaths (5,000 Palestinian civilians have died)
- No mention of Gaza’s crippling blockade since 2007
- Attempted delegitimization of the death toll numbers in Gaza by calling the Ministry of Health in Gaza the "Hamas-controlled authorities in Gaza”
Please click here to launch an email in which you can draft a response to this media coverage.
If you have any problems, please email [email protected].
Thank you very much. Every response makes a difference.
The CJPME Media Centre Team
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