Reuters Rushes to Publicize Claim of “Israeli Attack.” You Won’t Believe What Happened Next

By Published On: December 12, 2017

There may be times when “local residents” are good sources for a news story. But the death of two members of the Islamic Jihad terror group, killed in an explosion as they raced through Gaza on a motorcycle, is clearly not one of those times.

Before the metaphorical dust had a chance to settle, the Reuters World Twitter account sent to its 236,000 followers the following, in which Israel is named as the culprit:

Turns out it wasn’t an Israeli attack. At some point after this was posted on Twitter, the Reuters article updated to note that, by all indications, the terrorists were involved in a planned attack against Israel, but their explosives detonated prematurely. Not only did Israel indicate it wasn’t responsible, but Islamic Jihad announced that its two dead members were “martyrs of preparation,” indicating that their own weapons did them in.

Still now, hours after the article was updated, the Reuters headline frames the story as one about Israel denying responsibility for an “attack,” as opposed to Islamic Jihad bungling plans to strike at Israel.

reuters israel attack not attack headline.jpg

The conclusion is pretty straightforward. Reuters should be aiming more for accuracy and less for intrigue in headlines and tweets. If a mysterious explosion kills Palestinians, dubious allegations about Israeli involvement don’t belong front and center, at least not until they become something more than dubious allegations. And when they become something less than dubious allegations — inaccurate claims — the headline should focus on what happened, not on Israel’s denial of something Israel didn’t do.

Impatient journalism might get more clicks. But readers expect more from serious news organizations.

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