Hero Journalists
I know you don’t normally hear from me on Fridays, but I wanted to send you a quick dispatch about what’s happening with journalism right now, as that is my profession. I will continue writing my fun little gay essays – which I do believe are important, in their own way – but there are more pressing things going on in the world right now.
As I sit writing in my safe, warm apartment here in the U.S., the death toll of Palestinian journalists who have been killed by the Israeli army has risen to at least 36. Mohammed Abu Hatab was assassinated along with his whole family. Al Jazeera Gaza bureau chief Wael Al-Dahdouh learned his entire family had been murdered and kept on working. Meanwhile, Israel has explicitly stated that they intend to assassinate journalists based on false claims about photojournalists’ involvement in the January 7th Hamas attack.
When it comes to Western media, the pro-Israel slant is obvious. In order to enter Gaza under IDF air support, CNN has agreed to submit all materials to the Israeli military before publication. This is propaganda. The New York Times has been widely condemned for their anti–Palestinian coverage of the war. A group of media workers protested the Times’ headquarters yesterday, calling for a ceasefire. Per the AP, “They scattered editions of a mock newspaper — “The New York War Crimes” — that charged the media with “complicity in laundering genocide.” This action was inspired by ACT UP, who created a similar fake paper in response to The New York Times’ extremely damaging coverage – or lack thereof – of the AIDS crisis. Times writers who have spoken out about the paper’s coverage, most notably lesbian writer Jazmine Hughes, have been forced to resign. (Hughes signed an open letter in support of Palestine.) Artforum also fired its top editor after he signed a letter condemning the genocide. It’s feeling a lot like New McCarthyism.
The local journalists on the ground in Gaza are heroes. While The New York Times, CNN, and The BBC tacitly support genocide, Gazans are reporting on these massacres while fighting for their lives. Photojournalist Motaz Azaiza has garnered a huge following on Instagram, where he posts photos and videos of his beleaguered community. Bisan Owda, a young filmmaker, has been posting daily updates, recording both the devastation and the small joys of life in Gaza. Just this morning, her followers were worried because she hadn’t posted in over 24 hours. “I am alive,” reads her first post since she was displaced and without internet connection.
These are the voices we need to be uplifting, the sources we should be trusting. Now is the time to be principled in our morals and alert to the biases of the news we’re seeing. Western media and Western governments are both complicit in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians, and the least we can do is listen to the journalists and Gazans putting their lives on the line to share the truth with us. We can’t look away.
If you’re in the US, here is a really easy way to call Congress and demand a ceasefire. Here is a way to contact the DNC and tell them you won’t vote for Biden unless he calls for a ceasefire. If you live outside of the US and know of a way to contact officials and call for a ceasefire in your country, please comment that info below.
Thank you!