In today’s media landscape, accuracy is supposed to be the bedrock of credible journalism. Yet the Associated Press, a pillar of news reporting for decades and considered the gold standard of news, continues to lower its standards, especially when covering events involving Israel.
Having spent nearly two decades in mainstream media and being educated at the University of Southern California’s School of Broadcast Journalism, it was relentlessly drilled into me: Avoid bias, report only facts and let viewers form their own conclusions. What we witness today is a troubling departure from these core journalism principles.
I think Americans need to understand the pivotal role that the AP plays in our media. They’re not just another news source, they set the standard. What the AP reports shapes coverage across the media landscape, influencing how other outlets frame their narratives. When the AP leads, others rarely step out of line, amplifying the consequences of any bias or inaccuracy.
Just last week, the AP irresponsibly reported that Israeli hostages—the beautiful Bibas family, including the two young boys, Ariel and Kfir, and their mother, Shiri, who were kidnapped from their home and whose only crime was being Jewish—“died” rather than using the accurate term “murdered.” This semantic dilution is more than just a matter of word choice; it deliberately minimizes accountability and misleads the public about the true nature of these brutal crimes. I immediately called out the AP’s misleading headline, as did Donald Trump Jr. and Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump’s appointee as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Language matters. The word “died” implies neutrality, obscuring the deliberate, violent act inherent in murder. When the AP chooses neutrality over clarity, it diminishes the moral outrage and severity these events rightfully deserve.
Mainstream media often relies on questionable sources, such as Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health, treating its data as credible despite clear terrorist affiliations. Since when do we trust terrorists to be honest? Moreover, the AP refuses to identify Hamas accurately as terrorists, instead labeling them as “militants” per its style guide, further blurring essential distinctions in the public consciousness. Let’s not forget that Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by our government. And let’s be clear, what kind of “militants” rape and massacre innocent civilians, kidnap families from their homes and hold them hostage?
This pattern extends beyond the AP. Recently, the BBC aired a documentary narrated by the son of a Hamas terrorist. Despite eventually pulling the piece, the biased portrayal had already reached millions of viewers, further spreading false narratives and undermining journalistic credibility.
When Western audiences are fed sanitized versions of events, it undermines the credibility of global journalism and hampers efforts to hold perpetrators accountable. The AP’s irresponsible reporting compromises its integrity and sets a dangerous precedent for other media outlets to follow suit. News organizations, particularly those with the storied reputations of the AP, must recalibrate their approach to reporting on violence and accountability regarding Israel. They need to recognize that words are not mere vessels for information; they are powerful tools that shape our collective understanding of the world. Their anti-Israel bias isn’t journalism, it’s activism.
It is time for the AP to revisit its editorial policies and commit to a higher standard of clarity and accountability. Readers deserve to be told the truth, in language that does not obscure the reality of the events being reported. When hostages are murdered, there is no room for ambiguity, only the stark truth of murder.
With trust in mainstream media on the decline, the integrity of our news sources is more critical than ever. The AP has a duty not only to report events but to do so in a way that respects the gravity of those events. Until that commitment is renewed, the public, and indeed, the global community, must remain vigilant, questioning and challenging every headline that seems to shy away from the truth.