The "war of words" newsrooms face in reporting on Gaza

Hi friends,

It’s been another heavy, heavy week of news across the world. In addition to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, a hurricane has devastated Acapulco, intensified fighting in Sudan has left more suffering in its wake, and the U.S. experienced yet another mass shooting, this time in Maine.

I don’t have many words of comfort to offer, frankly. These are times when words fail. But my one wish for you today is to take care of yourselves and each other.

Talk soon, Aubrey Nagle

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Headline Check ??

Here we analyze and reframe a news headline to demonstrate how this important real estate can be optimized for user experience.

U.S. Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana was elected Speaker of the House Wednesday. He doesn’t have the same national name recognition as some of the previous speakers or recent candidates, so media outlets were quick to publish explainers. The headline above tops one from The Hill which lists Johnson’s recent moves.

These types of headlines typically score well in search engine optimization because a curious searcher might type such a phrase into Google verbatim. They’re meant to make you click, so they don’t answer the question at hand in any way.

The headline below from NBC News, on the other hand, makes an effort to actually answer the question with the most pertinent piece of Johnson’s political experience front and center for audiences impacted by this news. The person now second in line for the presidency tried to overturn the 2020 election to insert Trump as president and has been called the “most important architect of the Electoral College objections.” This is incredibly important for voters to understand — whether they have time to click through a headline or not.

Quote of the Week ???

It’s just what it sounds like: some words we think everyone should see!

Earlier this week, newsrooms like The New York Times were forced to correct or clarify their reporting on the origins of a bomb that hit a Gaza hospital. They and others reported that Israel had struck the hospital based on claims from Hamas that they could not immediately verify. Vanity Fair has the scoop on how this decision-making went down at the Times, whose own visual investigations team has made strides in understanding what exactly happened.

Financial Times chief data reporter John Burn-Murdoch shared his take (above) on why national newsrooms move too fast on reporting like this. His whole thread is worth a look but, in sum, he argues that a lack of data reporting expertise has real, tangible consequences on this geopolitical conflict.

A Link to Make You Think ??

Our must-read of the week.

The media navigates a war of words for reporting on Gaza and Israel

Debate over word choices are a time-honored newsroom tradition. But when the stakes are high — as in language that blames or exonerates parties in a war, for instance — these seemingly hair-splitting arguments take on a unique importance. This Washington Post piece examines the many difficult choices reporters and editors are making while reporting on the Israel-Hamas war. I highly recommend this one, folks. It’ll change how you consume this coverage.

Read the Story

Bonus Read: Mother Jones dives into the specific debate over the term “terrorism” and how some newsrooms are banning the word. Read the Story.

Resource Spotlight ??

Each week we’ll highlight relevant resources and guidance on language and framing.

Our friends at Outlier Media published a letter to their audience this week explaining how they are and are not covering global conflict. If your local newsroom is struggling with the same editorial decisions, I cannot recommend this example of trust-building communication enough. Use it as a template or just inspiration.

As we all struggle with the misinformation running rampant across social media, it might be worth seeing for yourself just how difficult moderation and policy decisions can be. TechDirt recently released a game called Trust & Safety Tycoon that puts you in the driver’s seat. Take it for a spin and let me know how you do!

This newsletter is brought to you by Modifier, Resolve’s home for practice change and professional development. Visit https://modifier.resolvephilly.org/ for more resources and information on how to enhance your work as a journalist, newsroom or business leader.