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CNN Settlement Photo and Headline Fail

In a report on the Israeli approval for building new homes in Jerusalem neighborhoods over the Green Line, CNN produces the following headline and photo: Some observations: The headline is inaccurate. As the text of…

Simon Plosker
February 6, 2014
12:00 am

Reading time: 2 minutes

In a report on the Israeli approval for building new homes in Jerusalem neighborhoods over the Green Line, CNN produces the following headline and photo:

Some observations:

The headline is inaccurate. As the text of the story itself states, Israel is building what CNN describes as “more than 550 settlement units” i.e. houses and apartments in existing neighborhoods. This is very different to the headline’s claim of “new settlements” which would imply the construction of completely new communities.
The photo of a demolished Palestinian house is completely unrelated to the story. Is CNN implying that Israel is destroying Palestinian homes to make room for Jewish ones? This is, of course, not the case. The legality or otherwise of Palestinian building is a separate issue to the story and is therefore entirely inappropriate.

A complaint has been sent to CNN. Watch this space.

UPDATE

It gets worse. This is the headline on the CNN mobile site:

“Hundreds of new settlements”?

Seriously?!

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Tags: CNN, headlines, settlements

Simon Plosker

With over two decades of experience in various non-governmental organizations in the UK and Israel, Simon Plosker returned to HonestReporting in October 2022 as Editorial Director having previously been part of the organization’s management team from 2005 to 2020. Prior to his first spell at HonestReporting, Simon worked in Israel for NGO Monitor, BICOM, and served for a short period in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. He was Managing Editor of the Geneva-based NGO United Nations Watch for two years before moving back to the frontline defending Israel from media bias. Simon has a BSoc.Sc in International Studies and Political Science from the University of Birmingham and an MSc in History of International Relations from the London School of Economics. He immigrated to Israel in 2001 from London.

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