The Media Accountability Project  

On May 8, 2025, CTV News published an Associated Press article titled “Leading aid group shuts down its soup kitchens across Gaza over Israel’s blockade.” While the piece highlighted Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon of war, it also relied on biased language and framing that violated journalistic standards.

CJPME volunteer Nikki Mutch submitted a detailed media accountability letter raising serious concerns about the use of the term “extremists” to describe Hamas, contrasted with euphemistic descriptions of Israeli military actions.

As a result of this letter, the AP/CTV team removed the word “extremist” from the article. This is a meaningful editorial correction that directly aligns with CJPME’s call for accurate, fair, and balanced reporting. It also signals that media outlets are paying attention to public pressure and ethical accountability.

CJPME commends this correction and will to challenge anti-Palestinian bias in Canadian media.

"The article cites Israel’s justification for the blockade without challenge. This framing is blatantly misleading. Hamas agreed to release all remaining hostages as part of a phased ceasefire deal—a deal Israel violated in order to continue its military assault on Gaza."

"The report states, as fact, “ceasefire talks to release the remaining hostages ground to a near standstill.” We all know full well that there was a ceasefire deal and Israel broke it. Even during the ceasefire Israel repeatedly violated the terms and continued to kill Palestinians every day. So your framing of this is a blatant lie. This lie is repeated later in the article."

"Though the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza does not distinguish between civilians and combatants using those specific terms, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) relies on data from the Gaza MoH to provide detailed breakdowns by gender and age in its official reports."

"This misrepresentation constitutes a serious failure to adhere to the Canadian Association of Journalists’ (CAJ) ethics guideline on accuracy, which states that journalists must be 'disciplined in verifying facts” and must distinguish “between assertions and fact.' Even in the context of an opinion article, this piece falls short of being 'based in fact.'"

"Your coverage should have explicitly stated that Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war, which is in blatant violation of international law. Omitting this context risks normalizing Israel’s war crimes and crimes against humanity. Please keep in mind that my feedback is offered in good faith, with the intention of holding media accountable in its coverage of Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians."

"His imprisonment, like that of many other Palestinians, was politically motivated—a blatant attempt to silence activists resisting Israel’s military occupation. In 2012, Amnesty International recognized him as a prisoner of conscience, condemning his repeated detentions as part of Israel’s systematic efforts to suppress Palestinian activism."

The National Post published an article from the Jewish News Syndicate wire service rife with propaganda that whitewashes Israel’s genocidal campaign in the occupied Gaza Strip and West Bank. 

"There are fears from local authorities in Jenin that what is happening in Jenin and the rest of the West Bank is part of a much bigger plan to annex the Occupied West Bank. Global News should clarify their report that Israel has shown no clear evidence that it is “targeting terrorist infrastructure” in Jenin."

On January 30, 2025, CJPME media analyst sent a letter of complaint to CBC News regarding their article, originally sourced from Reuters, which describes Israel’s release of Palestinian “detainees” as “prisoners.” Following CJPME’s advocacy efforts, CBC News adjusted its headline to more accurately reflect the legal status of Palestinians held in Israeli detention cells, referring to them as “detainees.” It is important to note however that While CBC changed their headline, Reuters did not.

Altough this small revision appears at the onset to be a  a minor linguistic issue, this inconsistency from the CBC and Reuters reinforces the inaccurate narrative that all Palestinians in Israeli custody are convicted criminals.In reality, many are being arbitrarily detained, often without due process, which means they cannot  be considered “prisoners”  according to the normal definition.

Why does this distinction matter?

Many Palestinians in Israeli custody are held under administrative detention, a practice that violates international human rights law—specifically, Article 9(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a legally binding UN treaty ratified by Israel in 1991:

Article 9(1): “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedures as are established by law.”

Administrative detention allows Israeli authorities to detain Palestinians indefinitely without charge or trial, based on secret evidence not disclosed to the detainee or their lawyer. According to Amnesty International:

“Israel has systematically used administrative detention as a tool to persecute Palestinians, rather than as an extraordinary and selectively used preventative measure.”

This means that many Palestinian detainees are not prisoners in the conventional sense.

While CBC’s headline change is a positive step, inconsistencies remain, as the article still alternates between “detainees” and “prisoners.”

Nevertheless, this remains an important step, highlighting CJPME’s role in holding CBC accountable for using precise and consistent language that upholds journalistic standards and accurately represents Israel’s detention practices.