Just as there are multiple ways in which journalists can distort reality in the wording of their reports, so too are there multiple areas in which bias or improper reporting can surface.
While an article may be completely fine, it only takes a misleading caption or headline lacking on context to derail an otherwise completely fair piece.
The same can be said about for social media posts. An article or video can be worded perfectly, but given that most users on social media do not click through to every article in their feed, it is the text that appears alongside any link that is most influential.
Which is why we were surprised to see a tweet by the Reuters news agency referring to “Palestine.”
The tweet, which read, “A man in Palestine uses his donkey-drawn cart to transport an old car to a scrap yard. See more from our oddly around the world gallery” caught our attention immediately.
Like many news agencies and media outlets, Reuters does not refer to “Palestine” as a contemporary state, instead using the term “Palestinian territories.”
No matter what one may think of Reuters’ standard terminology, the usage of “Palestine” to describe the man was a departure from the Reuters norm. HonestReporting responded to the tweet by replying with one of its own:
Since when does Reuters refer to "Palestine"? Is this a breach of its own editorial guidelines, or a new policy?
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) March 22, 2020
“Since when does Reuters refer to “Palestine”? Is this a breach of its own editorial guidelines, or a new policy?
Within hours, Reuters issued a new tweet announcing that the problematic content had been deleted.
“CORRECTION: A Palestinian man rides a donkey-drawn cart transporting an old car in Gaza City,
https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1241731043700486144
Credit to Reuters for swiftly taking down the offending tweet and issuing a clear retraction.
