AP Adds: Jordanian Was Killed After Attacking Israeli

CAMERA’s Israel office yesterday prompted improvement of a brief Associated Press article yesterday which initially omitted the fact that one of two Jordanians fatally shot by an Israeli embassy guard had first attacked the Israeli (“Israel gradually reopens embassy in Jordan after end of spat”). 
The original wording (7:40 am GMT) had stated:

The embassy was closed after a shooting last summer there in which two Jordanians were killed. Israel’s ambassador returned to Israel along with the guard involved in the shooting. The guard claimed self-defense and received a hero’s welcome at home, angering Jordanians.

CAMERA contacted the Associated Press, noting that the news agency’s coverage from July, with just a few words, noted that one of the Jordanians attacked the Israeli, prompting the shooting: “On Sunday, a guard at the Israeli Embassy in Jordan shot dead two Jordanians after one attacked him with a screw driver” (“Analysis: Jerusalem shrine crisis hardens leaders’ positions,” July 30, emphasis added).
Jordan’s Public Security Directorate itself acknowledged that one of the Jordanians attacked the Israeli guard, stating: “the son of carpentry owner attacked the Israeli diplomat who responded by shooting the carpenters the apartment owner” [sic]. 
In response, AP commendably updated the story (9:30 AM GMT), adding the key information that one of the Jordanians attacked the Israeli guard with a screw driver. The improved text states:

The embassy was closed after a shooting last summer there in which an Israeli guard shot and killed two Jordanians after one attacked him with a screw driver.

CAMERA’s timely action vis-à-vis yesterday’s AP article underscores the value of the organization’s work monitoring and responding to wire stories in the same news cycle as they appear. With this preemptive work, CAMERA improves coverage in wire service stories before they appear in media outlets around the world. The ripple impact is apparent at news sites like The Daily Mail, which replaced the incomplete AP story leaving out the screw driver attack with the updated version which included the attack.
For additional instances in which CAMERA prompted improved AP language as well as corrections, please see here.

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