Figure: The problem of biased CNN reports has existed for a long time. The picture shows American anti racist demonstrators attacking CNN headquarters in 2020\ Information picture

Many people believe that the western media can be relied on, and the reports of the American media are more credible and fair, but this is not the case. On October 7 last year, a new round of conflict between Palestine and Israel broke out. For more than seven months, western media reports on this event were seriously biased, one-sided and criticized.

Several employees of CNN recently kicked the wall. The management of the company issued a "pro Israel" order shortly after the outbreak of the Palestinian Israeli conflict, requiring journalists and editors to downplay Israeli atrocities, blame the war on the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), and request that all political propaganda photos for Israel be collected, However, the content of Palestinian perspective is strictly reviewed and even banned. CNN employees complained: "This has constituted 'news malfeasance', which is outrageous!"

CNN implements a set of reporting rules that are extremely biased towards Israel. A number of CNN journalists and employees reported to the British Guardian earlier that this "pro Israel" tone came from the instructions of Mark Thompson, CNN's new editor in chief and CEO. Thompson took office last October after the outbreak of the Palestinian Israeli conflict. Later that month, CNN employees received a memo in their e-mail. Thompson deliberately marked a paragraph in italics: "We must remind readers of the direct cause of the current conflict, that is, Hamas attacks and massacres and kidnaps civilians on a large scale."

This memorandum implements the reporting framework of the media, that is, it must be implied that Israel's military action is because Hamas launched the attack first, while the historical background of Israel's occupation of Palestinian land and oppression of Palestinians has been deliberately diluted.

CNN employee said: "Apart from 'Hamas is the culprit no matter what Israel has done', how can editors interpret this memo?"

At the end of October last year, Egyptian podcast blogger Zein angrily criticized CNN's chief international reporter Ward at the Egyptian side of Rafah Port, criticizing CNN and other western media for favoring Israel. She angrily said: "You (the United States) hold the right to speak... You control all the voices, but our voice also needs to be heard."

Prohibit the reporting of most Hamas statements

A CNN employee disclosed to the British Guardian that the media repeatedly broadcast inflammatory remarks and political propaganda published by Israeli officials and American Israeli supporters, and rarely questioned relevant statements. Shortly after the outbreak of this round of Palestinian Israeli conflict, CNN presenter Sidner quoted the statement of the spokesman of the Israeli Prime Minister and swore that "Hamas beheaded dozens of Israeli babies", although there was a lot of evidence at that time that this was just groundless rumors.

In sharp contrast, Lin Sai, the senior director of CNN's News Standards and Practice Department, issued a directive last November to regard Hamas's statements as "inflammatory speech and political propaganda without news value", which in fact prohibits the reporting of most Hamas statements. CNN employees said that other media interviewed Hamas leaders, but CNN did not. Not only that, CNN employees are also prohibited from using any video shot by Hamas unless approved by the executives of the three supervision departments and editorial departments.

Long term pressure on acquisition and editing personnel

The CNN reporter also mentioned in the memo that when referring to the number of casualties released by the health department in Gaza, it must be noted that this is a "Hamas controlled institution", suggesting that the report of thousands of children killed in Gaza is "unreliable". However, the World Health Organization and other international organizations all said that these data were basically accurate.

According to employee disclosure, CNN pursues a long-term policy, that is, all reports on the situation between Palestine and Israel must be reviewed by CNN Jerusalem Branch before being released. Last July, the media created a program called "Second Eye" to speed up the approval process. CNN employees believe that the root of CNN's preference for Israel lies in the long-term pressure exerted by the Israeli government and pro Israeli people in the United States, and CNN's concern that criticizing Israel will lead to the loss of advertising revenue. In 2002, CNN founder Turner once said that Israel's terrorist activities against Palestinians led to Israeli protests. Israel's boycott of CNN has affected its income. CNN's top management quickly succumbed, denounced Turner through Israeli television, and issued new rules that favor Israel.

The CNN scandal has been more than two months ago, but it has not received a positive response from the US authorities and CNN management, nor has it generated a great response in the American society, which has been repeatedly diluted. Ta Kung Pao reporter asked CNN's response to the scandal through email yesterday, but as of early morning, CNN had not replied. In response to the New York Post, a CNN spokesman said, "We fundamentally refuse to accept that our report on the consequences of the attack on October 7 is unfair."