As you will be well aware, there have been a spate of recent terror attacks, including the fatal stabbing attack in the Old City of Jerusalem last Motzaei Shabbat.
The terrorist stabbed the two victims and injured 2 more (including a 2 year old!) and was subsequently shot and killed.
This is how the BBC initially reported it:
This headline makes it appear as if the terrorist was the victim of the attack! The BBC did later change the headline, but never issued an apology! HonestReporting have made a petition to the BBC called “Israeli lives matter” which you can sign here.
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera posted this headline on it’s Twitter feed:
Palestinian shot dead after fatal stabbing in Jerusalem; 2 Israeli victims also killed http://t.co/mRHMHvi7s0 pic.twitter.com/l3WICTzCNI
— Al Jazeera News (@AJENews) October 3, 2015
Even thought the wording of this tweet is of a similar tone to the BBC (“Palestinian shot dead after fatal stabbing in Jerusalem; 2 Israeli victims also killed.”), and the tweet was not deleted (if you can see it above, it is still online), to their credit, Al Jazeera actually posted an apology about the wording of the tweet:
“Many people in our audience have pointed out that the tweet appears to minimise the killings of the Israeli victims and leaves out the context that the Palestinian man was their attacker.
This criticism is valid and we regret the wording of a tweet written under the pressure of breaking news. The story on the site was briefly headlined with similar wording, which we amended in an update.
Al Jazeera depends on accurate reporting and strives to promptly correct all errors of fact and misjudgements in tone.
We are committed to accountability and transparency and are grateful for this feedback.
We encourage our audience and others to identify and report our mistakes.”
Perhaps the BBC could take a leaf out of Al Jazeera’s book and at least post a grovelling apology?!
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