HonestReporting recently took Reuters’ Jerusalem bureau chief Luke Baker to task for tweeting that alleged that Israeli provocateurs had deliberately incited a mob of Palestinians to attack the Israeli police, therefore giving them the excuse to arrest the youths.
Not only did the AFP video evidence cited by Baker not offer any evidence for his claim but the AFP’s own man at the scene contradicted the charge.
Unfortunately this did not prevent some media from erroneously citing Baker as a credible eyewitness and repeating the false allegation.
The Washington Post wrote the following and even embedded Baker’s tweet:
Following an email from HonestReporting, the Washington Post evidently recognized that there was a problem and amended the above text, which now reads:
Accounts from observers, including the Jerusalem bureau chief of Reuters, indicated that the Israeli undercover operatives had participated in the clashes with the security personnel, who later came rushing down and aided in the arrests of a number of Palestinians.
So the reference to instigating the clashes has been removed. However, not only does the text still link to the Baker tweet, but the tweet itself with the original allegation continues to be embedded in the article.
Is this seriously the Washington Post’s idea of a real correction?
Meanwhile The Times of London also ran with the Baker allegation albeit without referring to the tweet or Baker himself. Strangely, the story evolved over the course of a few hours with changes in the headline and the text.
Note how in Version 1, “An undercover Israeli soldier helped incite a rock-throwing protest,” while in Version 2, he has “been filmed egging on stone-throwing protesters.” The second version also alleges Israeli provocation in the headline.
In any event, while the changes in the article are somewhat puzzling, the bottom line is that The Times of London has promoted the allegation of incitement based on AFP’s video footage.
Ultimately, Luke Baker has not retracted his tweet nor clarified that he was not at the scene of the incident. Instead, he has succeeded in contaminating other media outlets that have treated him as a credible source.
