The importance of accuracy in wire service reports is generally under-appreciated by the public. United Press International is one of many companies that produce reports which are then republished on websites and in newspapers the world over. When these agencies get their reporting right, it means that many millions of people are exposed to good coverage. When these wire services get things wrong, however, millions are exposed to false or misleading reporting.
A recent story by UPI opened with an unnecessarily clunky sentence (emphasis added):
Israeli firefighters fought several fires Friday, sparked by what the government believes are Hamas balloons carrying disguised explosive devices over the border.
Describing the fires as “sparked by what the government believes” to be “Hamas balloons carrying disguised explosive devices” is wholly unnecessary. With both Hamas and Israel agreeing that the former is responsible for the fires, and plenty of video evidence available, there’s no need for “he said/she said” journalism.
The role of journalists isn't to merely report each side's claims, @UPI. It's to report events. There's zero doubt that Hamas releases firebombs attached to balloons into Israeli territory. It freely admits doing so on social media, and thousands of videos document the results. pic.twitter.com/319Sa0JAEi
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) June 30, 2019
Later in the same article, another unfortunate error appeared:
The government also established a maritime blockade in the area two weeks ago.
In fact, there have been varying degrees of maritime restrictions on Gaza since Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007. The full naval blockade currently in place began on January 3, 2009, during Operation Cast Lead.
Over the last few months, Israel has repeatedly expanded and retracted the size of the perimeter in which Gazan fishing boats can go out to sea, with the distance being pushed down to zero in mid-June during a period of heightened tensions.
HonestReporting contacted UPI over both issues in this article, and the wire service reacted quickly to revise the sentences to more accurately reflect the situation. The first sentence now reads, “Israeli firefighters fought several new fires Friday, sparked [by] Hamas balloons carrying disguised explosive devices over the border.” The second has been updated to “full maritime blockage in the coastal enclave two weeks ago.”
The same week, another UPI article referred to eastern Jerusalem. That article made another egregious claim, this time of a different variety:
U.S. President Donald Trump became one of the first world leader (sic) to recognize Israel’s annexation in 2017.
Of course, nothing of the sort happened. Although President Trump has indeed overseen the relocation of the US embassy, he made clear that no decision on exact borders had been made.
A statement released at the time by the White House read:
This decision is not intended, in any way, to reflect a departure from our strong commitment to facilitate a lasting peace agreement. We want an agreement that is a great deal for the Israelis and a great deal for the Palestinians. We are not taking a position of any final status issues, including the specific boundaries of the Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, or the resolution of contested borders. Those questions are up to the parties involved.
Again, HonestReporting contacted UPI, who commendably replied swiftly and made the necessary revision to its article. Its now reads:
Although President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December 2017, he said in a statement: “we are not taking a position of any final status issues, including the specific boundaries of the Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, or the resolution of contested borders. Those questions are up to the parties involved.”
Credit to UPI for both its swift response times and its willingness to revise both articles in a timely fashion.
