𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐀 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌 𝐉𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐒 - by M.A. Rothman

 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐖 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐁𝐎𝐌𝐁𝐒 𝐀𝐓 𝐀𝐍 𝐈𝐃𝐅 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐕𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐀 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌 𝐉𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐒

Watch the footage and the whole game falls apart in about ten seconds. A mob hurls rocks and firebombs at an Israeli patrol, and woven right into the crowd, not across the street, not behind a barrier, but shoulder to shoulder with the attackers, stand men in blue 𝘗𝘙𝘌𝘚𝘚 vests, cameras up. They are not documenting the violence. They are 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

This is the trick that has poisoned years of war coverage. The press vest is treated as a magic garment that converts anyone wearing it into a neutral observer whose word the BBC and the wire services will print without a second thought. But as one Israeli analyst put it, 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵. The IDF has named case after case, Anas al-Sharif, Hussam Shabat, Ismail Abu Omar ,Al Jazeera figures it identifies, with captured documents, as operatives of H∗mas and Islamic Jihad.

The most damning of them is Abu Omar, who 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥 during the October 7 invasion, moving alongside the terrorists as they carried out the slaughter. He did not cover the attack. By his own camera, he rode in with it, and then went right back to filing for a global news network as if nothing had happened.

Understand what that means for every emotionally staged clip you are shown. When the cameraman is embedded with the people throwing the firebombs, the footage is not journalism, it is 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤. The soldiers are forced to choose between defending themselves and handing the enemy a martyr in a press vest, which is precisely the outcome the staging is designed to produce.

𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐦 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫. 

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐚.

by M.A. Rothman