Reuters Chief and Foreign Press Head Abuses Position, Expresses Open Disdain for Israel

Luke Baker, a man who openly expresses disdain and dislike for Israel is the Jerusalem bureau chief of Reuters, one of the world’s largest news services. He is also the outgoing chairperson of Israel’s Foreign Press Association (FPA).

Baker’s behavior on Twitter has given a window into his personal views, and those views are not at all impartial when it comes to Israel.

On the contrary, Baker’s tweets have been mocking, sarcastic, negative, and dismissive with regard to Israel and only with regard to Israel. Based on HonestReporting’s research, Baker has rarely, if ever, demonstrated such behavior or views toward Palestinians or toward any other party in the world.

Is this even allowed?

No.

The Reuters Handbook of Journalism states:

Everything we do as Reuters journalists has to be independent, free from bias and executed with the utmost integrity. These are our core values and stem from the Reuters Trust Principles.

Furthermore, “The 10 Absolutes of Reuters Journalism” includes that a Reuters journalist must “Always strive for balance and freedom from bias” and “Always guard against putting their opinion in a news story.”

The Handbook goes on to say that “a Reuters journalist shows integrity, impartiality, persistence, accountability and humility,” and Reuters reiterates in several places the importance of impartiality and freedom from bias.

But can’t a journalist express biased personal views in his private time on social media?

No.

As  stated in the Reuters Handbook, “whether for the file or online, we are guided 24 hours a day by the ethics of our organization as embodied in the Code of Conduct” and the rules specifically prohibit “flame wars, incendiary rhetoric and loose talk.”

So what did Luke Baker actually say?

Aside from routinely omitting critical context and basic fairness, Luke Baker frequently speaks about Israel in language that is beyond unprofessional, but actually demeaning, flippant and insulting, including:

• referring to Israeli security as “idiocy“;
• calling certain political groups “Jewish nutjobs“;
• calling an Israeli Foreign Ministry video “bizarre“;
• referring to criticism by Israeli diplomats as “mocking“;
• in a serious article, respected Arab-Israeli journalist Khaled Abu Toameh criticized certain ignorant and biased behaviors toward Israel by foreign press. Baker described the content of Abu Toameh’s article as  “a joke” and comprised of “silly anecdote[s]“; and
• in a blatant perpetuation of racial and religious stereotypes, Baker referred to a statement by Israel to the high court as “chutzpah.”  (The Reuters Handbook also says, “Do not use language that perpetuates sexual, racial, religious or other stereotypes. Such language is offensive, out of date and often simply inaccurate.”)

Indeed, Baker’s language with respect to Israel is offensive, out of date and often simply inaccurate, exactly in the manner proscribed by Reuters’ own rules. By contrast, Baker goes to surreal lengths to speak positively about Palestinian groups.

For example, not only could we not find similarly derisive and insulting comments about any Palestinian group, but when Baker was actually detained by the Hamas terror organization,  he said on Twitter that he was, “Briefly taken in for polite questions.”

Luke Baker behaved in a biased and deceitful manner before the Israeli Knesset.

As if Luke Baker’s cavalier attitude toward impartiality wasn’t enough, there is also his disdain for legitimate media monitoring, and his duplicity in front of the Israeli Knesset:

On Feb 9, 2016, foreign journalists appeared before a Knesset panel that wanted to hear what reporters had to say about media bias against Israel. Tzipi Livni, head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee’s sub-committee, said the session was called in response to a particularly shocking CBS News headline that had accused Israeli forces of killing Palestinians without mentioning that those Palestinians were carrying out a terror attack at the time. On hand were The Media Line, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel, among others.

In his role as head of the FPA in Israel, Baker, in a written submission, referred to the important role of media monitoring groups and specifically mentioned HonestReporting, saying:

These groups are very active and foreign media editors take very seriously any errors brought to their attention. Corrections are frequently issued.

Immediately after promoting HonestReporting as the very reason why Knesset oversight is not needed, Baker went on to:

1. block HonestReporting on Twitter;
2. refer to HonestReporting’s work as “laughable” and “strangely one sided“;
3. call HonestReporting a “pressure group” rather than a “monitoring group,” which is the term he had used when communicating with the Knesset; and
4. claim that HonestReporting “broke its own rules“ by criticizing foreign media for imbalance (notwithstanding the fact that HonestReporting’s mission is precisely to hold the media to its own professional standards, which includes criticizing the media for lack of balance);

Does Luke Baker’s intense and outspoken disdain for Israel even matter?

Yes: because it affects his leadership and journalism.

Just a few of the biased stories connected with Luke Baker and Reuters have included:

• Reuters: “Palestinian Dies in Ramming Attack”
• Is The PLO Dictating Reuters Content?
• Reuters Bureau Chief Falsely Claims Israeli Agents Incite Palestinians to Throw Stones
• Reuters Incorrect “Correction”
• Israeli Forces Shoot Dead Five Palestinians as Violence Rages On
• Israeli soldiers kill 3 Palestinians in West Bank
• Israeli troops kill three Palestinians in West Bank, Gaza
• Israelis Kill Jerusalem Knife Man
• As well as additional critiques mentioned in this article from The Algemeiner.

What does this mean for the world we live in?

Everyone is entitled to have an opinion, but an opinionated person may not hold a position of trust that requires impartiality. For example, when a judge in a court of law has a personal relationship with one of the parties, the judge is required to “recuse” from the case, and to be replaced with a truly impartial judge.

Similarly, the Reuters Handbook of Journalism makes it clear that a journalist is also a position of significant trust that requires impartiality and integrity on a personal level. Luke Baker is unashamed to advertise on Twitter that he is neither impartial nor does he posses requisite integrity when it comes to Israel, and he frequently reflects his unabashed bias in his professional work.

HonestReporting CEO Joe Hyams says:

Luke Baker has failed his employers at Reuters, the journalists he has served as head of the FPA, and the millions of readers around the world who rely on his work for fair and accurate news about Israel: the very country that Baker so strongly and openly disdains. Reuters deserves better, the community of professional journalists deserve better, news audiences deserve better. And yes, Israel deserves better too.

TAKE ACTION NOW

It’s time that Reuters was made aware of Baker’s unprofessional behavior. Please send an email of complaint to senior Reuters staff by clicking here or manually sending to [email protected] and/or [email protected].