In response to HonestReporting’s exposé and the subsequent global outcry, CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour publicly apologized for referring to the terrorist murder of three members of the Dee family as a “shootout.”
The apology and HonestReporting’s role in prompting it have generated extensive coverage in a number of media outlets.
SUCCESS: Following our campaign for a public apology, @CNN’s @amanpour says live on air: “I have written to Rabbi Leo Dee to apologize and make sure that he knows that we apologize for any further pain that may have caused him.”
See the full story here: https://t.co/ppmGQL5927 pic.twitter.com/PxWeyB0id0
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 22, 2023
ILTV News, May 23, 2023:
Editorial Director Simon Plosker tells ILTV News that the point of HonestReporting’s campaign for a public apology was to hold CNN and other media organizations accountable, which will hopefully lead to greater results in the long term.
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Quoted in Fox News, “CNN’s Christine Amanpour apologizes after wrongly claiming that rabbi’s family was killed in ‘shootout’,” May 23, 2023:
HonestReporting’s executive director, Gil Hoffman, told Fox News in a statement Tuesday that calling out journalists like Amanpour when they’re wrong has a positive influence on media in general.
“The press covering Israel saw what happened to Amanpour, and I hope it will make them more careful to be completely accurate when they file their own reports. Even journalists with an anti-Israel bias — as Amanpour has proven to be — will have to watch themselves better, because they know we at HonestReporting are watching. That is called restoring deterrence on the media battlefield, and it is more important than ever for Israel’s future.”
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Cited in The Jerusalem Post, “CNN’s Amanpour publicly apologizes for saying Dee family was killed in a ‘shootout’,” May 23, 2023:
Pro-Israel news outlet HonestReporting publicized Amanpour’s initial comment on May 11, after it had gone under the radar for a month already. In an April 10 interview with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, Amanpour said: “We have a young 15-year-old Palestinian boy who’s been shot and killed by security — Israeli security forces. We also have the mother of two sisters, Israeli British sisters. They were — they were killed in a shootout, and now the mother has died of her injury — injuries.”
HonestReporting shared the comment on Twitter and called for an apology. Rabbi Leo Dee, father of Maia and Rina and husband to Lucy, then gave the news outlet an exclusive statement also calling for an immediate apology.
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Cited in The Times of Israel, “CNN anchor Amanpour apologizes for calling terror attack on Dee family a ‘shootout’,” May 23, 2023:
Amanpour’s comment went largely unnoticed until Honest Reporting, an NGO that “monitors the media for bias against Israel,” drew attention to the remark and launched a Twitter campaign calling on the journalist to apologize for her mischaracterization of the incident.
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Quoted in The Algemeiner, “CNN’s Christine Amanpour Apologizes on Air to Jewish Family for ‘Shootout’ Comment,” May 23, 2023:
HonestReporting called on Amanpour to apologize on May 11 and also contacted CNN demanding an apology. The NGO on Monday said Amanpour’s on-air correction was a “success.”
“Upon seeing our expose, Lucy’s widower, Rabbi Leo Dee, issued a statement exclusively to HonestReporting, echoing our call for an immediate apology,” HonestReporting said.
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Cited in Channel 12 News’ Mako (Hebrew), “After She Labelled the Attack a ‘Shootout’: The Anchor Apologized on Air,” May 23, 2023:
Amanpour’s harsh words resurfaced thanks to a campaign by HonestReporting, an NGO engaged in criticism of perceived media bias against Israel. The campaign began on May 11, when the organization published the anchor’s initial statement regarding the attack. “We have a young 15-year-old Palestinian boy who’s been shot and killed by security — Israeli security forces. We also have the mother of two sisters, Israeli British sisters. They were — they were killed in a shootout, and now the mother has died of her injury — injuries,” said Amanpour on her program last month. HonestReporting’s Instagram account posted a tweet demanding an apology from Amanpour, which was accompanied by the video segment in which Amanpour referred to the attack as a ‘shootout.’ The video gained over a million views.
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Quoted in Israel Hayom, “CNN anchor apologizes for saying Dee family members were killed in ‘shootout’” and Jewish News Syndicate, “Amanpour apologizes to Rabbi Leo Dee,” May 23, 2023:
Honest Reporting called the correction a “success,” noting that it publicly called for Amanpour to issue the correction on May 11. “Upon seeing our exposé, Lucy’s widower, Rabbi Leo Dee, issued a statement exclusively to Honest Reporting, echoing our call for an immediate apology. That tweet has racked up a further 137,000 views, indicating significant public outrage at Amanpour and CNN,” the group stated.
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Quoted on JTA, “CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour apologizes for saying killing of British Israelis happened in a ‘shootout’,” May 24, 2023:
Honest Reporting, a pro-Israel media watchdog, tweeted to Amanpour, “you owe a grieving family an apology.”
Gil Hoffman, Honest Reporting’s CEO, said in a statement that he hopes other journalists who saw his group’s complaint and Amanpour’s apology will be “careful to be completely accurate when they file their own reports.”
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