When ITV News speculated this week about whether Israel had committed “a possible war crime” during a tragic incident in which a man was shot in Gaza, it had a duty to present the accusation with ironclad evidence.
However, the video it aired — allegedly showing the lethal targeting of a Palestinian civilian walking among a group of people waving a white flag — raises serious questions that the UK news outlet should have asked in advance.
And after the Israeli army denied the report and criticized ITV News for broadcasting what it dismissed as an “extension of Hamas’s propaganda effort,” serious alarm bells should have been ringing over at ITV News about the circumstances surrounding the incident the footage purportedly showed.
Sketchy Editing
According to ITV News, the video was filmed by Mohammed Abu Safia, a Gazan cameraman who works for the network.
The footage was presented without any disclosure telling viewers that it had been edited.
Furthermore, at least one of the video cuts seems to occur at the critical moment when gunshots are heard and people can be seen running away. The editing cut is barely perceptible, and the next frame shows a body on the ground.
The video goes on to show people carrying the body and mourning in what seems to be an active combat zone.
Several key questions arise:
- Why was there a cut between the frame showing people running from gunshots and the frame showing a body on the ground?
- Can ITV News confirm what happened and how much time elapsed between the two frames?
- Did ITV News probe the likelihood of Hamas terrorists in the vicinity who may have been shooting?
- Did ITV News rely solely on the eyewitness testimony of the cameraman, and if so, was it him or the network that edited the footage?
- The video shows one more person wearing a press vest, who was filming the scene on his phone. Why were journalists in this area to begin with and what were they filming?
Moral Vs. Journalistic Authority
These are not agenda-driven questions. They are questions that any journalist should have asked.
But apparently, ITV News was in too much of a rush to promote a “good story” than it was to do journalistic due diligence and investigate before presenting such an inflammatory accusation.
Related Reading: Media Commit Journalistic Crime in Coverage of Gaza Hospital Blast
Instead of acknowledging how little information was known about the incident, the network packaged it inside an emotional narrative showing an interview with the victim before he was shot before cutting straight to his anguished wife minutes later.
It also brought two lawyers to support its claims, although we suspect an interview with a video expert might have been money better spent.
ITV News also mentioned the accidental killing of Israeli hostages by IDF soldiers, as though this acts as further proof of the IDF targeting innocent civilians. What a shame the outlet did not balance this with footage of Hamas terrorists wearing civilian clothing and armed with suicide belts as they attempt to blend in with innocent civilians.
Evidence and questions aside, ITV News’ John Irvine felt more than comfortable reaching his conclusion after viewing just three minutes of footage:
I think this strips away at Israel’s moral authority and makes it more difficult for Israel’s allies to support this campaign.”
It’s incredible stuff. A supposedly reputable journalist claiming that a dubiously edited clip might prompt Israeli allies to withdraw their support.
As long as the questions above are left unasked and unanswered, the only thing that may be stripped away is the journalistic integrity of ITV News.
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