Accuracy and accountability are among the most important tenets of journalism. In combination, they mean media organizations are expected to publish or broadcast forthright corrections after sharing inaccurate information. The following corrections are among the many prompted by CAMERA’s communication with reporters and editors.
UPDATE: Associated Press corrects after captions erroneously reported that a Sderot home was hit by a rocket fired by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. In fact, Israel's Iron Dome intercepted the rockets, and it was shrapnel from the interception which damaged the house.
The Associated Press, which boasts "world-class journalism" and "global expertise," has been embroiled in a number of recent gaffes in its coverage of Israel and the Palestinians. The latest is a series of captions yesterday which misplaced the U.S. Embassy, moved to Jerusalem in 2018 amid great fanfare and controversy, back in Tel Aviv.
CAMERA prompts correction of a series of Associated Press photo captions which absurdly misidentified the Gaza Strip as the "world's largest Muslim nation." With less than 2 million Muslims, the tiny territory is home to a tiny percentage of the world's 1.7 billion Muslims. Even Germany's Muslim population is more than double Gaza's.
In April, with the global battle to contain the spread of Covid-19 in full swing, CAMERA elicited a record 27 corrections in a variety of news outlets: from major media including The New York Times, Associated Press and NBC, to non-Western and alternative news sources.
Ran Saar, CEO of the Maccabi HMO, is the putative source for the widely reported figure that 75,000 residents of the ultra-Orthodox town of Bnei Brak are likely infected with coronavirus. Media outlets ignore that Maccabi officials cited a miscalculation, and said the actual figure is just 10 percent of that. The executive director said Maccabi has "no idea" how many are infected.
CAMERA prompts correction of an Associated Press article about the new Coronavirus crisis which had falsely charged that Israel prevents surgical supplies from reaching the Gaza Strip. The improved copy also notes Hamas mismanagement of the territory's medical infrastructure.
UPDATED: AP corrects captions that Aymen Odeh, an Israeli Arab candidate in Israel's upcoming parliamentary elections, campaigned in "Yabeh, West Bank," when in fact he was campaigning in Taibeh, central Israel.
UPDATE: AP's correction makes clear the law applies specifically to those doing business with the state of Georgia not those simply doing business in the state. And it protects against "boycott of Israel," including individuals and companies with business interests in Israel, not against boycott of "the Israeli government."
The news organizations initially described the PFLP as merely a "leftist political party that has an armed wing." CAMERA secured corrected language that acknowledges the Palestinian group's terrorism and terror designations.
UPDATE: CAMERA prompts an AP correction after news agency coverage was more Russian than the Russians. AP clarifies that Russia claimed Syrian anti-aircraft fire nearly shot down a passenger jet while repelling an Israeli attack, not that Israel nearly downed the plane.
