Anonymous journalists wrote us a letter that other media outlets aren't taking our side enough. No they didn't send it to the BBC, we have it, trust us bro. (Of course, it's Al Jazeera, champion of Hamas.)
Please cite specific instances when Al Jazeera spread misinformation or took pro-Hamas stance since October 7. And no, reporting on Israeli air strikes or Palestinian death tolls doesn't make them a 'champion of Hamas'. You can't make allegations such as this against an international news organisation such as Al Jazeera, one of the only few with a bureau in Gaza, without backing them up with evidence in this community.
And any journalist who wants to keep their job would choose to remain anonymous while writing such a letter.
They publicly say Hamas bad while repeating all their talking points and justifying October 7th. They cast doubt on IDF motivations for attacks and uncritically use casualty figures from Hamas. They blamed Israel for the rocket attack against the hospital that was fired from within Gaza. Every article I've read there about this conflict is incredibly biased towards the Palestinian side.
Al Jazeera seems a lot like Sputnik or RT to me, they do a lot of good journalism right up until It has to do with their own people and then their bias becomes overwhelming, reading more like propaganda than journalism.
Thank you for at least giving some material against Al Jazeera. And I completely agree that there have been several instances of problematic stands taken by their Arabic wing. And I don't trust them when it comes to anything that directly impacts Qatar. Just like I don't trust BBC with anything concerning the UK monarchy, or RT with anything concerning Russia. However, Al Jazeera has been doing some incredible on ground reporting since the Hamas attack of October 7. And I am yet to see proof of any sort of bias from them on the matter (After all the Qatari government, their funder, is the mediator between Israel and Hamas in de-escalation talks). They are of course able to report more on the intensity of the situation on the ground in Gaza since they have people on the ground unlike most international news organizations that have to rely on IDF for the movement of their reporters.
Its ironic that you are quoting MEMRI as a source to claim that Al Jazeera is a 'champion of Hamas'.
FYI, MEMRI's founder Yigal Carmon is a former Israeli intelligence officer and is aligned with Netanyahu's Likud party. And MEMRI's work has been often been called out for bias and as misleading by various watchdogs, experts, and media organisations including those from Israel. I will take anything they say, including their translations of arabic content, with a pinch of salt.
Yes that is why I said take this as you will. Luckily the page I linked to is simply grouping multiple posts to be viewed on one page. All sources are cited and within 2 clicks you can see the source material and judge for yourself.
I honestly don't know who these people are that they have quoted. All that article have is some random screenshots of Twitter users making general claims. If you know how to do an internet search, you will be able to find people ranting against any organisation you want—that doesn't really mean anything.
Once again, you are citing a non-neutral source. Washington Institute is a pro-Israel think tank started by people affiliated to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, an influential pro-Israel lobby group. Please check the bias of your own sources.
But the question here is whether Al Jazeera is credible. From my observation, they usually just stick to facts when it comes to their reporting. Of course, they omit anything critical of Qatar, but that is not surprising. If any bias could be found, it would be largely in the opinion pieces they publish (which is generally critical of Israel). But opinion pieces are called as such for a reason and all media publication push their own editorial views through them.
I know about Al Jazeera. And I know about their criticisms—especially of their Arabic version. If you read my post, I mention them myself. But the OP of this comment thread made a specific claim in their initial post and I asked them to cite their source of information. This is not a political magazine/community, but one meant for discussing the industry and practice of journalism. Such accusations as the one OP made against a reputed international news organisation isn't appreciated in this community unless they are fact based.
Add comment