An AFP staff photographer aimed to appease Hamas by speaking to a “Day of Loyalty to the Palestinian Journalists” event organized by the terrorist group, the news agency’s global news director Phil Chetwynd told HonestReporting last week.
Journalists working for foreign media outlets in Gaza have participated in Hamas’ annual loyalty event hosted by the terror group’s Government Media Office, with the stated aim of aligning the media with Hamas’ agenda, an HonestReporting investigation revealed.
Our report unveiled the disturbing relationship between Gaza’s rulers and the journalists tasked with covering them, calling into question their objectivity and the ethical standards of their media outlets — the Associated Press, AFP, Reuters, and The New York Times.
“Mohammed Abed is an award-winning staff photographer at AFP who has always worked according to the agency’s published rules and ethics charters,” Chetwynd said.
“He did not attend the ‘Day of Loyalty to the Palestinian Journalists’ event in 2021. However, he agreed to say a few words in a video, as the Hamas-controlled government press office effectively regulated media work in Gaza. In the video, he thanked the government press office in general terms for their support of journalists,” the AFP global news director continued.
“We have journalists who work in many difficult locations around the world and in all these locations it is incumbent on them to maintain cordial and professional relations with the organization that controls the territory in which they work. It would be dishonest try to twist these anodyne words into a pledge of support for Hamas.”
While the AP and New York Times did not respond to a request for comment, a Reuters spokesperson defended the news agency’s journalists who participated in the Hamas event.
“We stand by our coverage of Gaza and our team, who operate within the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles,” the spokesman said.
However, those principles appeared to forbid joining an event organized by a terrorist organization to encourage loyalty.
“Customers across the world depend on us to provide them with reliable and objective news and information,” the Principles state. “This means that we have a special need to safeguard our independence and integrity and avoid any bias which may stem from control by specific individuals or interests.”
Here are the highlights of our expose:
HonestReporting is a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Media Outlets Stand By Reporters Who Cooperated With Hamas first appeared on Algemeiner.com.