The Media Accountability Project  

On April 1, CJPME learned that Grand Forks Gazette made all requested edits in a news article about a peace conference in Grand Forks. CJPME requested that the glaring factual errors related to the number of people killed and taken captive on Oct. 7 be edited. Before the article read:

Saturday marked roughly 170 days of Israel’s war on Gaza, following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas miliants at an outdoor music festival, which killed 1,600 Israeli citizens and 300 more taken hostage. Since then, it is estimated that more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed with about half of those children.

Now, the article reads:

Saturday marked roughly 170 days of Israel’s war on Gaza, following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas miliants at an outdoor music festival, which killed 1,200 people killed and around 240 taken hostage. Among the casualties were Isreali soldiers, civilians and foreigners. Since then, it is estimated that more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed with about half of those children.

A report from Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs cited social security data that showed that of the total death toll, 695 of those killed were Israeli civilians. The others were security forces and foreigners. There are also reports of Israeli civilians being killed by friendly fire on Oct.7, including a house in Kibbutz Be’eri getting shelled by a tank, leaving 12 Israelis dead.

CJPME greatly appreciates these thorough edits!

"You report that 300 Israeli citizens were taken hostage. According to the Israeli army, “the number of captives is 240,” so writing “300” is not supported by any other available sources. Like my point above, not all of those who were taken captive by Hamas were Israeli civilians. The captives include Israeli soldiers, civilians, and foreigners. Please correct this factual error and clarify your language to avoid implying that all those taken captive were civilians."