Let's dissect this terrible New York Times headline and understand it for the propaganda that it is.
https://x.com/AlanRMacLeod/status/1948755890116722897
Let's dissect this terrible New York Times headline and understand it for the propaganda that it is.
1. Firstly, the Times chooses to use the word "Gazans", rather than Palestinians. We know from leaked internal emails that NY Times senior management forbid reporters from using the word "Palestine" or "Palestinians" when covering the topic? Why? Because using those words legitimizes them as a people with a state. "Gazans", by contrast, does not. In this light, then, we can understand this choice as a deliberate attempt to erase a people's identity and statehood.
2. "Are dying of starvation" -- this makes it sound, to a casual reader, that this is a natural phenomenon, as if there is a drought or a famine. Nothing could be further from the truth. Palestinians in Gaza are being starved by Israel.
3. No mention of the perpetrator. This is such standard practice nowadays that it is almost a trope to even point it out. But it is important. Not identifying Israel as an active participant in the genocide frames the story differently and disinvites the reader to see Israel as the bad guy.
4. And that is exactly the point. The New York Times is an overtly pro-Israel publication, with senior management explicitly telling staff to report in a pro-Israel manner. Studies have shown that The Times is vastly more likely to report on Israeli deaths than Palestinian ones, and to use emotive language like "slaughter" when doing so (theintercept.com/2024/01/09/new).
Management have told staff that they cannot use words like "occupation", "refugee camp", "genocide", or even "Palestine" in their reporting. (theintercept.com/2024/04/15/nyt)
Many top NY Times figures have exceedingly close links to the IDF and to Netanyahu himself (newyorkwarcrimes.com/dossier).
The New York Times even hired a "former" Israeli spy with zero journalistic experience to write a now discredited propaganda piece about Hamas atrocities (mintpressnews.com/revealed-israe).
In short, then, The New York Times remains one of the premier pro-Israel propaganda outlets in the world. And headlines like this underscore that fact.
posted by Satish Sharma at
05:05
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