Gaza(Quds News Network)- A year into Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, journalists from CNN and the BBC have come forward exposing widespread pro-Israel bias within their newsrooms. Reporters who have covered the genocide since October 7, 2023, revealed internal practices that favored Israeli narratives, suppressed critical coverage, and violated journalistic standards. The revelations were shared with Al Jazeera’s The Listening Post for a documentary titled Failing Gaza: Behind the Lens of Western Media.
Ten journalists from the two leading news networks described a pattern of skewed reporting, with senior newsroom figures downplaying Israeli actions and allowing misleading information to be aired. In one notable case, CNN broadcast false Israeli propaganda about Hamas despite staff warnings that the information had already been debunked.
A key incident involved CNN’s report from Gaza’s Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital in November 2023, when CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson embedded with Israeli forces. During the visit, Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari claimed to have uncovered proof that Hamas was using the hospital to hold Israeli prisoners. Hagari pointed to a document on the wall, claiming it was a roster of Hamas guards overseeing the prisoners.
However, CNN staff quickly identified the document as an ordinary calendar, and Arabic speakers on social media debunked the claim before the footage even aired. Despite this, Robertson’s report was broadcast without correction. According to Adam (a pseudonym), a CNN journalist, internal communications show that a Palestinian producer tried to alert her colleagues, but her concerns were ignored.
“It was an embarrassing moment for CNN,” Adam said. “It wasn’t a Hamas roster at all. It was just a calendar. But the report swallowed Israel’s claim without question.” Even after concerns were raised, the segment was allowed to air, and no proof has ever emerged that prisoners were held at the hospital.
Adam further revealed that CNN’s editorial policies required confirmation from Israeli officials before labeling airstrikes on Gaza as such, a restriction that was not applied to other conflicts. “We wouldn’t need to ask the Russians if they bombed a hospital in Kyiv,” he said.
The BBC also came under fire from its own staff. Sara (a pseudonym), a former journalist at the British network, accused the BBC of applying a double standard in its treatment of Palestinian and Israeli guests. She revealed that an internal chat group was set up to vet potential interviewees, but Palestinian speakers were disproportionately scrutinized for their use of terms like “Zionist,” while Israeli officials were given more freedom to speak without challenge.
For instance, Israeli politician Idan Roll claimed on the BBC in October 2023 that Hamas had set babies on fire during its attack on southern Israel. Despite no evidence being provided to back up the claim, the BBC presenter did not challenge or question Roll’s statement.
“This lack of balance was troubling,” Sara said, adding that the editorial bias contributed to her decision to leave the network. She and others voiced concerns that Israeli spokespeople were often allowed to make extreme claims without being held to the same standard as Palestinian representatives.
These accounts from CNN and BBC journalists are part of a growing chorus of criticism aimed at Western media’s coverage of the Gaza genocide. Over the past year, prominent figures in the media industry have accused major outlets of dehumanizing Palestinians and minimizing their suffering while echoing Israeli government narratives. Some journalists from leading publications like The New York Times and the BBC have resigned in protest over their networks’ coverage of the conflict.
Craig Mokhiber, a former UN human rights official who resigned over the UN’s response to the Gaza genocide, commented on the media’s role: “Western media has become part of the mechanism of genocide,” he told Al Jazeera.
Both CNN and the BBC have denied allegations of bias, but the statements from their own reporters suggest a deep-seated problem in how the Gaza conflict is portrayed in Western media.
Source: qudsnen
