EMAIL NYT EDITORS

Dear [Editor’s Name],

I’m writing to express my deep concern over your coverage of the military assault in Gaza and the broader Palestine-Israel issue. The analysis of an independent collective of U.S. journalists, writers, and media makers found a consistent favoring of the Israeli perspective. The instances noted in this research undermine our expected standards of balanced and unbiased journalism and the journalistic ethics principle to minimize harm.

The analysis of over 90 articles published on A1 between October 8 to November 24, 2023, reveals significant issues, including:

1. Lack of historical context preceding the October 7 attack.
2. Selective reporting on the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
3. Use of language that downplays civilian casualties.
4. Framing a man-made humanitarian crisis as a strategic objective.
5. Lack of accountability conveyed through passive language.
6. Bias in fueling sympathy for one side over another.
7. Double standards on source credibility.
8. Uneven fact verification.
9. Minimization of Palestinian suffering relative to Israeli suffering and death.
10. Questioning the credibility of Palestinian sources regarding the death toll.

These patterns suggest a departure from journalistic integrity, indirectly supporting violence against Palestinians, and affecting public perception and policy when it comes to naming this U.S.-backed Israeli genocide of Gaza.

Despite previous alerts from independent groups, news outlets, and individuals, there seems to be no corrective action from the NYT editorial board. We recall the board’s 2004 apology for its pre-Iraq war coverage, recognizing the paper’s culpability in promoting problematic coverage of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

We urge the NYT to:

• Conduct a thorough internal review of your reporting, using the issues we’ve identified as a starting point.
• Issue a comprehensive editor’s letter outlining necessary corrections to this reporting.
• Issue corrections for individual articles where you have relied on misleading information, unreliable sources, and used passive language to describe Israel’s actions.
• Appoint a public editor for Israel-Palestine to impartially review content and name/hold accountable editors who rushed through disingenuous reporting without rigorous fact checking. 

We believe in the NYT’s capability for rigorous, evidence-based reporting. It is crucial, now more than ever, for the Times to reflect on its standards and ensure its coverage does not unwittingly support injustice or perpetuate conflict. 

Sincerely,

[Your Name] [Collective Name]