Sunday, November 19, 2023

Journalists

It's normal, during conflicts, for journalists to express solidarity with other journalists - on "all sides" - and to condemn military targeting of them, or even just insufficient concern for their safety.

US journalists can't do that now for Palestinian journalists or they'll be fired. Plenty of them aren't interested in doing that, of course.

Lots of bullshit which will become difficult to unsee, ever.

The Los Angeles Times is prohibiting staff from covering the Gaza war for at least three months if they signed a strongly-worded open letter criticizing Israel’s military operations in the region.

Earlier this month, nearly a dozen staffers at the LA Times signed the open letter condemning the Israeli government’s bombing of Gaza, and saying the military operations were harming journalists and threatening newsgathering. The letter also called on newsrooms to use language including “apartheid,” “ethnic cleansing,” and “genocide” when referring to the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.

Two people with knowledge of the situation told Semafor that staffers who signed the letter have been told by the paper’s management that they will not be allowed to cover the conflict in any way for at least three months.
They weren't fired, but the lines have been drawn and other journalists have not been sticking up for them. I have not seen (show me if I have missed it!) any of the "bigs" suggest shooting Palestinian journalists is bad.