A case study of how the media loses consumer trust

Distrust of the media spreads wider when bad journalism originates at the first link in the chain: the mass, wholesale providers of news content that supply thousands of newspapers, radio, TV, and social media outlets. When the Associated Press, aka AP, the “provider of news content to over half the world’s population,” is the source of bad journalism, it’s a “super-spreader” event.

A recent AP story “More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, the territory’s Health Ministry says” (August 15, 2024) includes multiple assertions made by multiple entities. But not all assertions are treated equally.  While assertions from different sources are described differently, they are all given respect and credibility. All except for Israel’s, whose assertions are labeled “claims,” conveying a lower degree of reliability.

• Hamas’ Health Ministry’s assertions are described as “detailed:” “In its most recent detailed report on the dead, issued Thursday, the ministry said 40,005 people have been killed.”
• The assertion of unnamed Gazan civil defense workers is unquestioned: “[they] say the true toll is likely thousands higher since many bodies remain buried under the rubble of buildings destroyed in airstrikes.”
• Though not named, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification group – which is quoted as asserting “the entire territory is at high risk of famine…” is described as “the leading authority on measuring hunger.”
• Corey Scher and Jamon Van Den Hoek, who assert “[Israel’s] offensive likely either damaged or destroyed 59% of all structures in Gaza by July 3,” are described as “experts in mapping damage during war.”

Only Israel’s assertions are qualified by, imbued with suspicion, by the phrase “claims.”

• “Israeli forces have regularly targeted mosques, schools, hospitals and cemeteries where it claims fighters or tunnels are located, often causing civilian casualties.”
• “The Israeli military claims that over 17,000 Hamas fighters are among those killed.”

The article’s glaring discrepancy in characterizing various sources of information is bad journalism.

It is also bad journalism to “bury the lead.”  In a story devoted to detailing Palestinian suffering, there isn’t the slightest effort to distinguish between Hamas fighters and Gazan civilians.

In fact, the AP gives Hamas a pass: “It does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its toll.”

Yet when one news source – Israel – makes that distinction by pointing to 17,000 killed terrorists, the AP dismisses it: “The Israeli military…has not provided evidence.”

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The above critique was shared as feedback/comment via the AP’s “Get in Touch” web portal on August 15, 2024.  As of August 19, no response has been received.

AP describes itself as “…the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news,”

It is worrisome that that is probably true.

Also worrisome but seemingly less true is their claim to “abhor…bias…”

Maybe tomorrow – day 6 –they’ll fulfill their pledge that “when mistakes are made, they must be corrected – fully, quickly, transparently and ungrudgingly.”

If they end up doing so, that will be good news.