CNN reporters admit the obvious: Reporting of Gaza biased

Editor's note: Anthony Moretti, a special commentator for CGTN, is an associate professor at the Department of Communication and Organizational Leadership at Robert Morris University. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

There is an old adage in the United States: Do not air your dirty laundry. 

Multiple (the exact number is not clear) CNN reporters forgot – or chose to ignore – those six words in recent days. That decision continues to reverberate throughout U.S. news agencies. Of equal importance, they have again called into question the integrity of CNN as a news network.

What did they claim? Their network had abandoned any pretense of objectivity and fairness in its coverage of the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict. 

Before we go any further, we must remember that the free media are supposed to cater to the needs of the audience ahead of anything else. In addition, journalists are expected to report the most contentious of issues as accurately as possible. Doing so includes gathering and scrutinizing information from all sides, especially in times of war. 

As history has taught us many times, in war, truth is the first casualty. 

And yet, that description of how journalism should be conducted in the U.S. has again been found to be utopian. The reality is that modern American journalism is far too quick to adopt and promote the positions endorsed by the government and influential advertisers. In this case, and especially in the early days of the Israel-Gaza war, the White House made its position clear: It supported Israel. Yes, that attitude has adjusted somewhat over time, and that change in a message was required after members of U.S. President Joe Biden's own team admitted they were not happy with how closely he was aligning with that nation. 

Returning now to the CNN reporters, the British newspaper The Guardian published damaging comments from unnamed CNN staff. One person said, "The majority of news since the war began, regardless of how accurate the initial reporting, has been skewed by a systemic and institutional bias within the network toward Israel. Ultimately, CNN's coverage of the Israel-Gaza war amounts to journalistic malpractice." Another suggested that several staff were considering whether it was time to leave the network because of the restrictions placed on reporting. 

A couple of complaints stand out, according to The Guardian. One, there is a steady diet of pro-Israel propaganda broadcast across the network's platforms and a corresponding censoring of information from Palestine. The CNN staff report that they have been ordered by senior executives to report the comments of Israeli officials without questioning the veracity of those statements but to scrutinize remarks from Hamas' leaders. 

Second, they assert that the network's bureau in Jerusalem must approve any reporting before it is broadcast. The result? "By the time these reports go through Jerusalem… critical changes – from the introduction of imprecise language to an ignorance of crucial stories – ensure that nearly every report, no matter how damning, relieves Israel of wrongdoing."

According to The Guardian, CNN reporters are keenly aware that their new boss – Mark Thompson – had previously worked at BBC and had been questioned about his priorities during his time there. The Guardian pointed out that while in the United Kingdom, Thompson "was accused of bowing to Israeli government pressure on a number of occasions, including a demand to remove one of the corporation's most prominent correspondents from her post in Jerusalem in 2005."

The people who spoke to The Guardian say that guidelines about how to report the Israel-Gaza conflict were laid out by Thompson roughly 48 hours after it began. He wrote: "We must continue always to remind our audiences of the immediate cause of this current conflict (the italics were in his statement), namely the Hamas attack and mass murder and kidnap of civilians."

CNN reporters interpreted those words to mean that sharp questions about Israeli actions should not be prioritized. Later, they received another memo, from another CNN executive, telling reporters that Hamas regularly used "inflammatory rhetoric." As a result, "we should be careful not to give it a platform." Those reporters told The Guardian that they are keenly aware that other global news organizations are generating interviews with Hamas leaders.

Keep in mind that CNN continues to grapple with the harsh reactions surrounding its town hall forum with former President Donald Trump last May. The Washington Post noted that CNN's own journalists were among those inside and outside the network who were not happy that evening. The newspaper noted that critics "called the town hall a 'debacle,' a 'disaster and 'CNN's lowest moment.'" 

Combine the absence of objectivity in its Israel-Gaza reporting with a decision to cozy up to Trump and one question must be asked: Is CNN still committed to serious journalism?

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