{"id":6331,"date":"2025-09-30T02:41:32","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T00:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/?p=6331"},"modified":"2025-09-30T02:41:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T00:41:32","slug":"media-rulebook-hide-israel-atrocities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/2025-09-30\/media-rulebook-hide-israel-atrocities\/","title":{"rendered":"How the media tears up its own rulebook to hide Israel’s atrocities"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The news cycle has rules every rookie journalist understands. When the media choose to break them, you can be sure it is for entirely non-journalistic reasons<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

You can tell much from how the media choose to cover a news story \u2013 and from the facts they decide to emphasise in a headline. And you can tell even more from the fact that, on certain subjects, the media uniformly choose to break the most basic rules of news gathering taught to every young journalist.<\/p>\n

Typically, reporters try to extract as much news \u201cvalue\u201d from a story as they can. That means there is often a formula hiding behind the coverage.<\/p>\n

When the news first hits, it is handled as what we call a \u201cbreaking story\u201d. It is the first draft of the event, containing essential information as it can best be understood at the time of the report.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an example of a possible headline on a breaking news story: \u201cTwo dead, over 40 injured as London-to-Brighton train derails.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later the same news event is repackaged in what is called a \u201cfollow-up\u201d \u2013 once more information is available and errors can be corrected, or because, with more time to talk to those directly involved, there is the chance to present a different, or more interesting, angle on the same story.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the headline on a possible follow-up: \u201cTrain driver reportedly had heart attack before fatal train derailment.\u201d<\/p>\n

But there are cases where the natural order of the news cycle gets disrupted \u2013 and when it does, there are invariably likely to be non-journalistic reasons in play.<\/p>\n

In the case of Israel, the news-gathering rulebook often gets torn up.<\/p>\n

The first lesson taught to every rookie journalist is this: wherever possible, supply the reader with the \u201cwho, what, when, where, why and how\u201d of the story.<\/p>\n

I would not be the first to note how often news media forget in headlines \u2013 the only part of a story most readers see \u2013 to mention the first of those points, \u201cWho?\u201d, if the responsible party is Israel and it is committing indisputable war crimes.<\/p>\n

We have had two years filled with this kind of rogue reporting, designed to obscure Israel\u2019s role in systematically perpetrating atrocities that amount to genocide:<\/p>\n

\n

Also, never forget how the media covered the killing of 6-year old Hind Rajab, her family, and the medics who tried to save her, without naming their killer. pic.twitter.com\/GQTNwHCxXe<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Assal Rad (@AssalRad) September 4, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n