With your support we continue to ensure media accuracy

HR Prompts Yet Another Guardian Tel Aviv Capital Correction

Of all the media outlets we catch out for referring to Tel Aviv as Israel’s capital, The Guardian has more reason than most to not repeat the error. In 2012, HonestReporting launched legal action and…

Simon Plosker
July 25, 2018
12:00 am

Reading time: < 1 minutes

Of all the media outlets we catch out for referring to Tel Aviv as Israel’s capital, The Guardian has more reason than most to not repeat the error.

In 2012, HonestReporting launched legal action and successfully forced The Guardian to retract its assertion that Tel Aviv was the Israeli capital.

Yet the error keeps repeating. Here’s the latest in a story concerning Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s extreme and hypocritical rantings on Israel’s contentious nation state law:

Referring to Tel Aviv in this context is the equivalent of New York, Montreal or Sydney. Major cities, yes, but not capital cities.

After we pointed out the error, The Guardian swiftly amended the story, which now refers to “Turkey and Israel.”

Correct, but is it really so difficult for The Guardian to write the word “Jerusalem?” Sadly, it appears so.

▶ What Is the Crisis at CBS News?

▶ When Journalists Cross the Line

Shawarma, Smoothies And… Starvation? New York Times Prints Most Contradictory Gaza Claims Yet

▶ Do Women and Children Really Make Up 70% of the Gaza Death Toll?

▶ Who’s Really Blocking Aid in Gaza?

Tags: capital, distorted facts, Erdogan, Jerusalem, success, Tel Aviv, The Guardian, Turkey

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.

HonestReporting is a USA non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization as recognized by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Tax ID# 06-1611859. Your generous tax-deductible donations make a real difference.