A spokesperson for the fake news network confirmed to the Intercept that its news coverage about Israel and Palestine is run through and reviewed by the CNN Jerusalem Bureau. In turn, the bureau is subject to the IDF's Israeli Military Censor (IMC) unit.
The IMC restricts foreign news outlets from reporting on certain subjects of its choosing, and outright censors articles or news segments that do not comply with its guidelines. To bypass the IMC, other news organizations report certain stories about the region through their news desks outside of Israel.
"The policy of running stories about Israel or the Palestinians past the Jerusalem bureau has been in place for years. It is simply down to the fact that there are many unique and complex local nuances that warrant extra scrutiny to make sure our reporting is as precise and accurate as possible," the CNN spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that the network does not share news copy with the IMC, and dubbed CNN's interactions with the IDF "minimal." The spokesperson also confirmed that CNN "will seek comment from Israeli and other relevant officials before publishing stories" as part of "good journalistic practice."
Despite this, a CNN staffer who spoke to the Intercept on condition of anonymity said the IMC's influence has indeed played a role in ensuring that the network's reports paint Israel in a favorable light.
"Every single Israel-Palestine-related line for reporting must seek approval from the [Jerusalem] bureau," the staffer said. "[When] the bureau is not staffed, [approvals come] from a select few handpicked by the bureau and senior management – from which lines are most often edited with a very specific nuance."
Israeli censors have strict rules for CNN reporters
Richard Greene, chief of CNN's Jerusalem Bureau, announced the expansion of its review team to include editors outside of Israel under the "Jerusalem SecondEyes" policy. The move was reportedly put in place to bring "more expert eyes" to CNN's reporting, particularly when the Jerusalem news desk isn't staffed, reported ZeroHedge.
The anonymous staffer explained how the policy works in practice. Under the scheme, "war crime" and "genocide" are not to be used in stories. Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip will be simply reported as "blasts" attributed to nobody – until the IDF weighs in to either accept or deny responsibility.
They also pointed out the clear anti-Palestine slant under the policy. "Quotes and information provided by Israeli army and government officials tend to be approved quickly, while those from Palestinians tend to be heavily scrutinized and slowly processed," the staffer said. This slant has also extended to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry (GHM), which often publishes statistics of casualties killed by Israeli offensives. (Related: How America's bloodthirsty journalism cheers on Israel's war on Gaza.)
An email sent by CNN's News Standards and Practices division to staffers in October 2023 suggested that the network sought to paint the GHM's casualty figures as questionable. "Hamas controls the government in Gaza and we should describe the [GHM] as 'Hamas-controlled' whenever we are referring to casualty statistics or other claims related to the present conflict," the email read.
The following month, CNN News Standards and Practices senior director issued a memo regarding Hamas. He wrote in the Nov. 2 document: "Hamas representatives are engaging in inflammatory rhetoric and propaganda. We should be careful not to give [the group] a platform."
Ultimately, newsroom employees were advised to "remind audiences of the immediate cause of this current conflict – namely the [Oct. 7] Hamas attack, mass murder and [kidnapping] of Israeli civilians." Arab American Institute founder James Zogby pointed out that the IDF's approach to censoring media outlets by way of the IMC is "Israel's way of intimidating and controlling news."
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Watch this clip from TruNews, which explains how Israel is controlling the narrative in Gaza.
This video is from the TruNews channel on Brighteon.com.
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