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New documentary charges killing of Palestinian American journalist was intentional
www.npr.org/2025/05/08/nx-s1-5384894/documentary-israeli-soldier-al-jazeera-journalist-shireen-ab…
UPDATED MAY 9, 20255:00 AM ET
HEARD ON MORNING EDITION
By
Leila Fadel
,
Mohamad ElBardicy
7-Minute Listen
TRANSCRIPT
A mural of slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot and killed during an Israeli military raid in the West Bank city of Jenin, adorns a wall in Gaza City on May 15, 2022.
A mural of slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot and killed during an Israeli military raid in the West Bank city of Jenin, adorns a wall in Gaza City on May 15, 2022.
Adel Hana/AP
Al Jazeera's Shireen Abu Akleh is killed while reporting on an Israeli raid
MIDDLE EAST
Al Jazeera's Shireen Abu Akleh is killed while reporting on an Israeli raid
A new documentary from the media outlet Zeteo challenges the U.S. government's official position that the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during an Israeli military raid in the West Bank in May 2022 was a tragic mistake. The film, Who Killed Shireen?, also claims to reveal the name of the Israeli soldier who killed her and alleges the Biden administration intentionally softened its internal findings to protect a key ally.
Abu Akleh, a veteran reporter for Al Jazeera, was wearing a blue flak jacket clearly marked "press" when she was shot and killed by an Israeli soldier while covering an Israeli military operation in the city of Jenin, in the West Bank. No one has been held accountable. At the time, Israel's military said in a statement that it was a "high possibility that Ms. Abu Akleh was accidentally hit by IDF gunfire fired toward suspects identified as armed Palestinian gunmen during an exchange of fire in which life-threatening, widespread and indiscriminate shots were fired toward IDF soldiers."
Sponsor Message
In the documentary, a former Biden administration official, whose voice is distorted to protect his identity, says a U.S. review initially concluded Abu Akleh's killing was intentional and that the soldier who fired the fatal shot would have been aware he was shooting at a journalist. NPR's Daniel Estrin spoke with the same former official who made the same claims. Investigative filmmaker and former Wall Street Journal correspondent Dion Nissenbaum was one of the executive producers of the film. He spoke to Morning Edition host Leila Fadel.
Hanan Khdour, 47, stands beside the grave of her son Mohammad Khdour in Biddu, West Bank, on Sept. 19, 2024. Mohammad, 17, and his cousin Malek Mansour, 16, also from Biddu, were driving in the hills not too far from their home in February 2024, when a man shot at their car from a distance as they were driving back.
NATIONAL SECURITY
DOJ silent as families of Americans killed in West Bank, Gaza demand it investigate
On what the documentary reported about the Biden administration's review:
"We were able to find a key U.S. official to talk to us who told us that U.S. personnel went to the scene in the West Bank city of Jenin, where Shireen was killed to try and figure out what happened. And their initial assessment was that the Israeli soldier intentionally targeted Shireen."
"That initial assessment was essentially overruled by the Biden administration, and they came out and said explicitly that it was unintentional."
On the soldier the documentary identifies as the shooter — and their confirmation process:
While the documentary names the soldier, NPR is not doing so because we have not independently confirmed his identity.
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"He was a 20-year-old soldier who was on his first combat deployment in the West Bank. And we were able to track him down. And he actually was himself killed in Jenin last summer. So he was killed in the city where he killed Shireen."
"We confirmed it with Israeli soldiers that knew him and served with him. And we have spoken with the Israeli military about this at length. The Israeli military, you know, is declining to comment on this. I can tell you with high confidence, we have identified the shooter."
People observe the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing journalists, killing three media staffers from two different news agencies according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, in Hasbaya village, southeast Lebanon, on Oct. 25.
MIDDLE EAST
Israeli strike in Lebanon kills 3 journalists
On the significance of Abu Akleh's killing and how Israel and the occupied territories have become increasingly dangerous places for journalists to work:
(The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has named upwards of 176 journalists and media workers killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and Lebanon since the Israel-Gaza war began. CPJ says at least 17 of those journalists and two media workers were directly targeted by Israeli forces. CPJ is classifying them as murders.)
"Her killing was in some ways the beginning of a trajectory for the Israeli military. Before Shireen, Israel was never on the list of most dangerous countries for journalists. And now, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Israel is considered the most dangerous country for journalists because of what's happening in Gaza. And two more Gaza journalists were killed in new strikes in Gaza. And so you just see a real shift in the way the Israeli military looks at journalists and it's becoming ever more dangerous for journalists to work there."
The Israeli military denies it deliberately targeted journalists and claims some of the journalists documented by CPJ were Hamas operatives.
In response to NPR's query about the documentary's claims, the Israeli military sent this statement:
"Zeteo has decided to publish the name of the IDF soldier who fell during an operational activity, despite the family's request not to publish the name, and even though they were told that there is no definitive determination regarding the identity of the individual responsible for the shooting that caused the journalist's death."
MEDIA
Shireen Abu Akleh did the stories no one wanted to do, says colleague
On whether U.S. policy may have led to more killings of Americans:
"As we note in the documentary, there are folks like Senator Chris Van Hollen who do believe that the Biden administration's failure to hold Israel to account and get them to change the way they operate did lead to the death of other Americans in the West Bank. The U.S. should have held Israel to account and gotten them to change their rules of engagement, to tighten up how they operate so that they're not opening fire on unarmed civilians."
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On what Nissenbaum hopes the film accomplishes:
"I'm hoping that it will lead to some reflections from the Israeli military about the way that they operate in the West Bank around civilians and journalists. I'm hoping that the U.S. government will reflect on its own responsibility and trying to seek some justice for an American citizen who was killed by the Israeli military. I hope there's some reflection from U.S. officials about ways that they can stand up for Americans in that situation."
This story was produced for radio by Milton Guevara
New documentary charges killing of Palestinian American journalist was intentional
www.npr.org
Dion Nissenbaum, one of the executive producers of the revealing new documentary “Who Killed Shireen?” speaks to Morning Edition about an investigation into the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh…
Defend the Voices of the People, Not the “Voice of America” | Campaign to Preserve Democracy & Accountability at Pacifica Radio
pacificafightback.org/defend-the-voices-of-the-people-not-the-voice-of-america/
Defend the Voices of the People, Not the “Voice of America”
May 25, 2025 admin
Listeners to KPFA and other Pacifica stations have a wide range of opinions on issues within the progressive spectrum . But numerous listeners who may disagree on other issues have all expressed strong disapproval of a promotional pitch recording airing on KPFA that defends and praises the so-called “Voice of Americaˮ (VOA) and compares it to KPFA as an “independent” media outlet under attack by Trump.
Listen and judge for yourself:
VOA cartDownload
In fact, for over 75 years the VOA has been the propaganda arm of the US State Department, the Pentagon and the CIA. From the Korean War to backing of dictatorships like Marcos in the Philippines to the US-financed war on Gaza, the VOA has whitewashed or lied outright about US imperialist actions and interventions. It is part and parcel of “US Global Media”, along with Radio Free Europe (RFE) and Radio-TV Marti, designed to support regimes that uphold and align with the goals of the US empire, and to foment dissent and subversion within countries like Cuba or Venezuela that want independence and do not align with or accept US domination and corporate exploitation.
1950's magazine add for Radio Free Europe seeking funds. Elegant white woman asks, "You mean I can fight communism?"
The pitch promo recording may be right in lining the VOA up with NPR & PBS, because many officials at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and the public media they support come out of the propaganda operations of US Global Media, like the VOA, RFE, Radio Liberty, and Radio/TV Marti. But the VOA should not be defended on KPFA’s airwaves, and KPFA should not be aligning itself with or whitewashing the VOA or other state propaganda.
For KPFA management, which has refused to comment editorially on air to defend journalists like Mumia Abu-Jamal, Frank Sterling or Julian Assange against state attacks, to play a pitch promo defending the VOA as “independent journalism” and comparing it to KPFA, exposes how the current management of the station and Foundation, installed by the New Day majority in control of the Pacifica national board and KPFA’s local board, is corrupting, abandoning and debasing the Pacifica Mission and our commitment to the cause of peace and of freedom of speech, cultural expression and the press.
Again, this recording has been played over and over. It’s not a sentiment by some misguided guest or an opinion of an individual host, but presented as an editorial statement and self-promotion by KPFA, voiced by a former station manager and approved by current management. The VOA is the exact opposite of what Pacifica stands for! Pacifica Fightback calls on KPFA to take this recording off the air. That is not a violation of freedom of speech, but a defense of the principles of true freedom of the press that KPFA and Pacifica should defend and uphold.
pacificafightback.org
Defend the Voices of the People, Not the “Voice of America” May 25, 2025May 25, 2025 admin Listeners to KPFA and other Pacifica stations have a wide range of opinions on issues within the pro…
Israel Kills Journalists; Tech Powers the War on Gaza; Turkish Journalist Exposes Erdogan’s Support for Extremists
capitalismraceanddemocracy.org/2025/05/19/israel-kills-journalists-tech-powers-the-war-on-gaza-tu…
Ahlam Muhtaseb is a professor of communication at California State University, San Bernardino and producer of the film “1948: Creation & Catastrophe.” She spoke at the UC People’s Tribunal for Palestine and talked about the killing of Gaza journalist Yahya Sobeih. Israeli forces have killed over 180 journalists in Gaza and the West Bank, including Palestinian American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
***
The assault on Gaza is being waged not only with bombs and blockades but also by digital infrastructure, surveillance technology, and global media narratives.
Major tech platforms are playing a role. Meta has been accused of censoring Palestinian voices. Microsoft technologies are entangled with military operations. Artificial intelligence tools are reportedly being used to monitor and target students. Meanwhile, media empires like Rupert Murdoch’s continue to shape public opinion in ways that obscure the realities on the ground.
Rapper and activist Lowkey joined Rania Khalek, host of Dispatches on Breakthrough News, to break down how digital systems are being used to suppress solidarity, and how today’s technologies are enabling the global infrastructure of repression.
***
Turkey, under the presidency of Recep Tayip Erdogan, supported the Al Qaeda affiliate whose leader is now the president of Syria. Erdogan has also fueled the growth of Islamic fundamentalism across the Middle East. Derya Koca, a journalist and activist with the Socialist Workers Party of Turkey, spoke to Pacifica’s Steve Zeltzer.
And that concludes today’s edition of Capitalism, Race & Democracy. We thank all of Pacifica’s sister stations and affiliates who contribute to the production of this show. Today’s program was produced by the Capitalism, Race & Democracy collective, with contributions from Steve Zeltzer, Freddy Libertad, and Polina Vasiliev.
You can find this and all previous episodes at our website “capitalism race and democracy dot ORG”. Make sure you click the subscribe button. Follow us on X, formerly Twitter, @PacificaCRD.
Music:
Lowkey, “Long Live Palestine”
Lowkey – Long Live Palestine ft Frankie Boyle, Maverick Sabre (Part 3) [Music Video] | GRM Daily
Can news outlets survive influx of AI and stealing of data?
www.koreatimes.co.kr/world/20250520/can-news-outlets-survive-the-influx-of-ai-and-the-stealing-of…
Julia Angwin, journalist and founder of Proof News, speaks during the session titled "Elevating Journalism to its Rightful Position" at the 2025 World News Media Congress hosted by the World Association of News Publishers in Krakow, Poland, May 5. From left are, Ladina Heimgartner, president of the World Association of News Publishers, Meera Selva, chief executive officer of Internews Europe, Martin Baron, former executive editor of The Washington Post and Angwin. Korea Times photo by Ahn Kyung-mo
By Park Ji-won
Published May 20, 2025 11:47 am KST
Updated May 20, 2025 2:14 pm KST
World News Media Congress participants share concerns about AI and stress importance of focusing on journalism's core values
Since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, artificial intelligence (AI) has taken center stage in the global media industry, generating discussions about its impact on journalism and the newsroom.
In the early stages of the chatbot’s introduction, news companies focused on defining AI itself. But after the fast spread of the OpenAI service and other AI services released by late-coming tech giants over the last three years, newsrooms are now forced to make a life-or-death decision about how the industry can integrate AI in the newsroom while upholding journalistic integrity and fighting fake news.
This year's World News Media Congress, hosted by the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) in Krakow, Poland, explored these debates from May 4 to 6. While last year’s congress held in Copenhagen, Denmark, was centered on basic technical issues such as creating summaries and headlines and identifying false news, this year's discussions on AI were much broader, with topics critical to the industry amid growing threats of IT giants extracting data from the media.
“From an industry perspective, I worry the most about AI as turning all of us into basically workers who are just building data for a training model but not ever getting any of the monetization on our own websites or wherever our outlet is,” Julia Angwin, journalist and founder of U.S.-based Proof News, said in the session on May 5 titled “Elevating Journalism to its Rightful Position."
“In the U.S., so much of media consumption is filtered through the tech platforms,” she said, adding that ordinary news consumers have no access to the algorithms of media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, which could potentially lead to suppression of expression.
She stressed that the industry needs to fight for information to retain freedom of expression.
“We need to combat this … the information we need to know, whether it’s certain political views, are being suppressed on these outlets.”
Lucky Gunasekara, co-founder and CEO of Miso.ai, an artificial intelligence-driven search service provider, speaks during the session titled "How AI-driven Platforms Reshaping Referral Traffic and SEO Strategies" at the 2025 World News Media Congress hosted by the World Association of News Publishers in Krakow, Poland, May 6. Korea Times photo by Ahn Kyung-mo
Business insiders such as Lucky Gunasekara, co-founder and CEO of Miso.ai, an AI-driven search service provider, also shared the concerns that the data “theft” of AI companies obtained from partner crawlers and learning personal conversations is unregulated.
“When we talk to regulators right now, they are so behind. There's no way for you as the individual to know what they're doing with your data at this point,” Gunasekara said during a session titled "Advertising Disrupted: Is AI Reshaping the Playing Field?” on May 4, urging there is a need for disclosure of what the AI companies are doing.
He added that data stealing and thus the creation of untrustworthy hyperpersonalised content is “concerning.”
“(It) ends up creating hallucinations and uses private conversations for political and commercial advertisements,” he also said during a session titled “How AI-driven platforms reshaping referral traffic and SEO strategies,” on May 6, adding that it could amount to privacy disclosure and reputation harm to brands.
He urged the media industry to self-regulate and initiate making “open standards quickly” and “uphold the standard of basic minimum commitments" in order not to lose “huge amounts of consumer trust."
Participants gather at the 2025 World News Media Congress hosted by the World Association of News Publishers in Krakow, Poland, May 5. Korea Times photo by Ahn Kyung-mo
David vs Goliath fight or opportunities?
Even though some analysts, such as Barry Adams, SEO consultant of Polemic Digital, predicted that Google is ultimately going to take over the AI market because of its size, many also see opportunities in introducing AI assistants in the newsroom to save journalists from repetitive and tedious tasks. Large media companies such as Reuters and Financial Times are actively introducing their own AI services in their content management systems.
“We all work in very similar ways … we are all time-pressed and resource-pressed,” Jane Barrett, head of Reuters AI Strategy, said during a session titled “AI in the Newsroom: Supporting Journalism,” on May 6.
Reuters has been widely introducing AI-assistant services such as Fact Genie, a summary tool, and Leon, a headline assistant. It is developing new features to process press releases in multiple languages, helping reporters quickly extract useful information from large volumes of data, as well as tools for video transcription and content shortlisting.
Ryan Y. Kellett, a journalist who worked for Axios and The Washington Post, and who is currently a Nieman-Berkman Klein fellow for Journalism Innovation at Harvard University, speaks during the session “From Audience to Community," at the 2025 World News Media Congress hosted by the World Association of News Publishers in Krakow, Poland, May 6. Korea Times photo by Ahn Kyung-mo
Journalism to back to its core
Facing a series of challenges, journalists highlighted the importance of engaging with audiences and refocusing on going back to the basics of journalism.
“It ultimately is about building trust,” said Ryan Y. Kellett, a journalist who has worked for Axios and The Washington Post and is currently a Nieman-Berkman Klein fellow for Journalism Innovation at Harvard University, during a session titled “From Audience to Community" on May 5.
He also shared a fact sheet showing that more consumers are getting their news from social media or influencers and creators, even though they are not sure about its sources.
Stressing that those creators can be seen as more transparent and trustworthy than legacy media by sharing everything they've researched and engaging with audiences, he urged traditional journalists to learn from them to survive changing audience trends.
“If an influencer can do it, why can't you as a news organization? … Create your audience future," he said.
Martin Baron, the award-winning journalist from The Washington Post who is now retired, stressed the importance of audience engagement, which the legacy media has been mostly missing.
“We should face the nasty fact that we are not communicating effectively with the public and other people,” Baron said during the session titled “Elevating Journalism to its Rightful Position" on May 5, while adding that independent content, such as YouTubers, TikTok creators and Substack newsletter publishers, put significant effort into responding to their audiences to create a sense of community.
“We have to find a way to do that so that we can be successfully communicating the information that people need and deserve to know about their society,” he said.
This reporter's attendance at the 2025 World News Media Congress was funded by the Korea Press Foundation.
www.koreatimes.co.kr
Since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, artificial intelligence (AI) has taken center stage in the global media industry, generating discussions about its impact on journalism and the newsroom. In the e…
Leftist Azeri Journalist and Activist Mammadli Tortured and Jailed
socialistmiddleeast.com/leftist-azeri-journalist-and-activist-mammadli-tortured-and-jailed
SocialistSocialist May 9, 2025 05:476
Leftist Azeri Journalist and Activist Mammadli Tortured and Jailed
In Azerbaijan, the Aliyev regime tortured and jailed Ahmet Mammadli, who is a leftist journalist, unionist, and human rights activist, on charges of “intentional injury” on May 7.
Mammadli had been under open and intense pressure for a long time. Mammadli’s family draws attention to the danger of being held in prison for a long time under the pretext of being tried in pretrial detention, as is the case with many dissidents, and reminds that Mammadli’s close comrade Afiaddin Mammadov was recently sentenced to 8 years in prison. The Aliyev regime in Azerbaijan employs tactics such as portraying opposition members as criminals for drug, extortion, and injury, thus both slandering and silencing their voices. Mammadli was also arrested on charges of “intentional injury.”
The decision to continue the detention of opposition leader Tofig Yagublu, who was sentenced to 9 years in prison and has been on hunger strike since April 1, was made at the hearing on May 6. It is known that Tofig Yagublu has been unable to even drink water recently. It is unclear whether Tofig Yagublu will survive until the next hearing on May 20. The government, which is extremely disturbed by Yagublu being on the public agenda, detained journalists Ahmed Mammadli and Ülviyye Ali late at night on May 6 after they went to the courthouse to follow Yagublu's hearing.
Ülviyye Ali, one of the last independent journalists in Azerbaijan who had not been arrested, was detained by the police under torture in the evening. The police searched Ülviyye Ali's house, severely damaging the belongings in the house and placing 6000 Manat in the house. This money was used against the journalist in court as evidence of smuggling. In the context of the pressures on the media that have been ongoing for about 2 years in Azerbaijan, journalists from independent media organizations such as Abzas Media, Meydan TV and Toplum TV were previously arrested on the same pretext. Ülviyye Ali was one of the important journalists who documented many actions and rights violations in Azerbaijan. The court ruled that Ülviyye Ali be held in pretrial detention for 2 months.
On the same day, another leftist activist and journalist, Ahmet Mammadli, was also detained under torture. Ahmet Mammadli has been an opposition figure who has been fighting for years in Azerbaijan, first with the student movement and then with workers' rights, and who became the general chairman of the D-18 party. He had also had his share of the increasing pressure in Azerbaijan for years, with bans on traveling abroad and detentions. The Aliyev regime, which has vowed not to leave any light in the country, is now trying Ahmet Mammadli for a serious crime. The crime of "intentional injury" was alleged regarding Mammadli, who was detained illegally by the police. It is alleged that Mammadli stabbed a person in the stomach because of a problem they had in a taxi. In addition, Ahmet Mammadli was tortured with electric shocks because they wanted to get his phone password, and was not given food for 3 days, his lawyer and family announced.
A 4-month detention decision was made for Ahmet Mammadli in court. This practice is a kind of psychological torture of the Aliyev regime. During the months of detention, the oppositionists who are brought to court have their trials postponed and are held without an indictment for months or even years.
image_750x_681e76f5a6310.jpgPreviously, Afiaddin Mammadov, one of the left leaders of the D-18 party, was also arrested with Ahmet Mammadli on charges of “stabbing.” After a similarly long detention since 2023, he was sentenced to 8 years in prison by court order. At the same time, the leading members of the "Work Table" union, which Ahmet Mammadli and Afiaddin Mammadov founded together, were also sentenced to 3 years in prison, along with Afiaddin Mammadov. The Work Table union organized motorcycle couriers in Azerbaijan and organized strikes. After this incident, the workers who were members of the union had detained on false pretexts. During the Karabakh war, Mammadov and Mammadli were kidnapped, detained, and imprisoned for opposing the Azerbaijani government's expulsion of the Armenian people from the region and chauvinist war policies.
Azerbaijan, which has returned to the Aliyev dynasty, can only govern with chauvinism and oppression. In the impoverished country where corruption is at its peak, the pressure on the opposition has increased significantly, especially since the Karabakh war in 2020. There are more than 350 political prisoners in the country. The regime, which has been conducting a serious witch hunt, especially against the press, in the last two years, has raided many independent media institutions and arrested many journalists and activists. At the same time, Aliyev, who has strengthened his relations with Erdoğan after the war, is also turning the country into a profiteering area for AKP's pro-government companies.
Leftist Azeri Journalist and Activist Mammadli Tortured and Jailed
socialistmiddleeast.com
In Azerbaijan, the Aliyev regime tortured and jailed Ahmet Mammadli, who is a leftist journalist, unionist, and human rights activist, on charges of “intentional injury” on May 7.
‘Who Killed Shireen?’
Zeteo uncovers the hidden identity – and fate – of the Israeli soldier who killed the famous Palestinian-American journalist in 2022.
zeteo.com/p/who-killed-shireen-abu-akleh
TEAM ZETEO
MAY 07, 2025
After a months-long investigation, Zeteo is finally releasing what is undeniably one of our most important works yet, supported and funded by you: our exclusive documentary, “Who Killed Shireen?”
Watch the 40-minute film above, about Israel’s shocking killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Jenin in 2022, and be one of the first people to see and hear the ground-breaking revelations from our award-winning team of journalists.
In this investigative documentary, Zeteo, for the first time, identifies the Israeli soldier who killed the famous reporter – a closely guarded secret up until now, as Israel had refused to divulge his name even to top American officials, according to our sources.
The documentary also reveals a shocking Biden administration cover-up, with former US officials divulging exclusive new information and telling us that the Biden administration “failed” Shireen in order to maintain its relationship with the Israeli government.
The film features exclusive interviews not just with former US officials but also former top Israeli officials and soldiers, as well as journalists who knew Shireen personally.
This is an eye-opening investigation that only Zeteo was prepared to fund and has only been possible because of the financial support of our paid subscribers. No corporations. No sponsors. Nothing else.
Paid subscribers to Zeteo can watch the full film above. Free subscribers can watch an 8-minute preview. If you would like to watch the full documentary, and support this type of journalism and the work we’re doing at Zeteo, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription. Your small contribution goes a long way toward supporting accountability journalism like this… the kind that other outlets are still afraid to take on.
Should you want to help expensive, ambitious, and important journalistic projects like this even further, you can always donate to us here.
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“Who Killed Shireen?” is an investigation for Zeteo led by an award-winning team of journalists and District Bear Media:
Dion Nissenbaum
Dion is an award-winning journalist who has spent more than two decades working as a foreign correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and McClatchy Newspapers. A two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist in international reporting, Dion has been based in Kabul, where he covered the US war in Afghanistan, Jerusalem, where he reported on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Istanbul, Beirut, and Washington.
Fatima AbdulKarim
Fatima is currently a journalist for the New York Times, reporting from the Occupied West Bank. Born in Jerusalem, and raised between Amman and Sharjah, UAE, Fatima is a journalist with 18 years of experience reporting from the front lines in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and working with other major news outlets such as the Christian Science Monitor, the Wall Street Journal, and +972 Magazine. Fatima was a friend and colleague of Shireen in the tight-knit Ramallah-based Palestinian journalist circle.
Conor Powell
Conor is a podcast host, multimedia producer, and veteran TV journalist with more than a decade of experience covering major news stories, including wars and conflicts in the Middle East. Conor runs District Bear Media with Atia Abawi and also hosted and wrote the award-winning podcast “The Lords of Soccer: How FIFA Stole the Beautiful Game” for iHeartRadio.
EXCLUSIVE: Watch Our Explosive New Documentary, ‘Who Killed Shireen?’
zeteo.com
Zeteo uncovers the hidden identity – and fate – of the Israeli soldier who killed the famous Palestinian-American journalist in 2022.
The Turkish government’s grip on journalism is tightening
With 90% of the country’s media now controlled by the state, it is becoming harder and harder to report independently
www.indexoncensorship.org/2025/05/turkish-governments-grip-journalism-tightening-media/?fbclid=Iw…
By Kaya Genç
08 May 25
Europe and Central Asia | News and features | Turkey
Prior to his arrest, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu meets with the public in February 2024 ahead of local elections in Istanbul and across Turkey. Photo by Tolga Ildun / ZUMA Press WiZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Live News
The alarming escalation in the persecution of Turkey’s media workers is part of a calculated strategy. With the detention of Istanbul’s democratically elected mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on 19 March, the Turkish government has sent a chilling message to the public: nobody is safe, anyone can be arrested, so everybody should take caution.
Journalists make up a significant sum among the more than 1,879 detained in last month’s protests, 260 of whom were formally arrested. A further 382 people were reportedly arrested in Istanbul last week for “non-authorised demonstrations”.
Photographers, reporters, videographers, YouTubers, and social media commentators have been detained. Many have been taken into custody following dawn raids. Wearing visible press badges hasn’t helped reporters and videographers who filmed scenes of clashes outside the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality building in Saraçhane, where the opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), had organised week-long protest rallies. Covering the events became a crime as government officials warned that TV networks that gave airtime to these events would be shut down.
This was not an empty threat. On 24 March, 11 journalists were arrested in one day, including Yasin Akgül of the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Bülent Kılıç, a World Press Photo award winner and one of Turkey’s most accomplished photographers. BBC’s long-time Istanbul correspondent, Mark Lowen, was taken from his hotel in Istanbul on 26 March, held for 17 hours, and expelled from the country where he had lived for five years.
Arbitrary releases have followed the arbitrary arrests. After being released, the AFP photographer Akgül and his colleagues were reportedly re-arrested the same day, before being re-released a few days later.
Turkey’s Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) and Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) have used these arbitrary shock-and-awe tactics over the past weeks.
On the day of İmamoğlu’s detention, BTK imposed widespread restrictions on social media and messaging platforms in Istanbul, including YouTube, Instagram, X, and TikTok.
Because of the restrictions, neither locals nor tourists could use messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal for days. The impact was significant, given that Istanbul has a population of more than 15 million residents, making it the most populous and wealthiest city in Turkey.
BTK achieved the digital shutdown through bandwidth throttling, which significantly slows down internet access. The global internet censorship watchdog NetBlocks confirmed the use of bandwidth throttling.
The government, meanwhile, neither accepted nor denied throttling the internet for more than 15 million citizens, adding an air of mystery to the technical operation. Imposing restrictions without any announcement or explanation is part of the same political strategy that placed İmamoğlu behind bars.
A few days later, RTÜK issued a 10-day broadcast suspension for the leading opposition network, Sözcü TV. The TV channel’s coverage of protests “incited hatred and enmity among the public”, according to RTÜK.
Officials from the board continue to threaten the opposition media by revoking their licences. This means they could be shut down for good if network editors don’t abide by the government’s rules.
“Let’s see what will happen tomorrow morning,” mused Fatih Portakal, the Sözcü TV anchor, during a news bulletin shortly following the announcement of the 10-day suspension. Portakal told viewers his channel would go dark and display RTÜK’s decision for ten days. Sözcü continued its YouTube broadcasts and is now back on air on cable television.
The Turkish government already controls 90% of the media. From TV channel CNN Turk to newspaper Hurriyet, once respected mainstream media brands now operate as government mouthpieces. The government’s biggest concern is the remaining pockets of free expression: media outlets such as Bianet, Agos, Açık Radyo, and Medyascope have been demonised by the right-wing press, charged with serving foreign interests. In response, readers and viewers have been supporting these publications through donations.
But the level of government oppression has reached new heights, even by Turkey’s standards. In March, after the opposition party CHP launched a boycott campaign against firms with links to the government’s financial networks, a court shut down BoykotYap.com, the website containing the list of boycotted firms.
Hours later, the CHP launched a new website with an altered web address, BoykotYap.net. “Transform your consumption power into resistance. We will not see those who do not see the people!” CHP MP Pınar Uzun Okakın posted on X after announcing the new website’s URL.
In the eyes of the government, the unrest that followed the jailing of Istanbul’s democratically elected mayor is an opportunity. RTÜK recently announced that it would require two YouTube channels to register with the government to continue their streams, or their accounts would be blocked. Neither channel has applied for a licence and RTÜK hasn’t yet closed them down.
Fatih Altaylı, one of the targeted journalists, has nearly 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube, several times larger than pro-government channels like Yeni Şafak (712,000) and Sabah (373,000). The move follows RTÜK announcing last September that, under new regulation, YouTubers would need to obtain a licence in order to broadcast news. While the law is yet to be fully implemented, it is clearly already being used as a threat, and licenses can already be obtained. In the ideal world of the Turkish government, its bureaucrats would be permitted to censor content about Turkey regardless of platform.
The reaction to this vision of opacity and widespread censorship has been immense. Mass street protests and social media campaigns included a boycott against government-controlled media channels CNN Türk, the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), and the news agency Demirören News Agency (DHA).
As government intimidation continues to increase, Turkey’s media workers will likely develop new outlets: YouTube channels, Substacks, websites, anything that allows them to reach a growing audience hungry for objective news that is produced by reporters on the ground, despite all dangers.
The Turkish government’s grip on journalism is tightening – Index on Censorship
www.indexoncensorship.org
With 90% of the country’s media now controlled by the state, it is becoming harder and harder to report independently
New Film Names Soldier in Palestinian American Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh Shooting
After Shireen Abu Akleh was killed in the West Bank in 2022, the Israeli military never revealed the identity of the soldier who fired at her. A documentary said it had confirmed his name.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/world/middleeast/israel-soldier-shireen-abu-akleh-palestinian-american…
Banners with a woman’s face are affixed to low walls amid a row of trees.
The site of Shireen Abu Akleh’s fatal shooting in Jenin, the West Bank, in 2022. The killing of the U.S. citizen prompted the Biden administration to push Israel to more rigorously investigate her death. Credit…Samar Hazboun for The New York Times
Patrick Kingsley.png
By Patrick Kingsley
Reporting from Jerusalem
May 8, 2025, 6:59 a.m. ET
When Shireen Abu Akleh, a renowned Palestinian American broadcaster, was shot and killed in 2022 in the northern West Bank, Israeli officials initially suggested that she may have been hit by a Palestinian militant. Months later, the military changed its account, acknowledging that she most likely was shot by an Israeli soldier — whom it declined to identify.
Three years later, a new documentary has identified and named an Israeli soldier as the shooter, apparently solving a mystery that was a major focus at the time of the incident.
Zeteo News, a left-leaning online news outlet, named the shooter as Capt. Alon Scagio, then a 20-year-old marksman in an elite commando unit, citing another soldier in his squad.
Two Israeli military officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, confirmed the documentary’s conclusions to The New York Times. Asked by The Times to confirm the identity of the soldier, the Israeli military said it had made “no definitive determination regarding the identity of the individual responsible for the shooting.” At the same time, it passed along a message from the Scagio family requesting that journalists avoid publishing the captain’s name.
Ms. Abu Akleh, a veteran reporter for Al Jazeera, was a household name in the Middle East. Her death set off mourning across the region and prompted greater global scrutiny of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. Her U.S. citizenship also prompted unusual concern from the Biden administration, leading to friction between the American and Israeli governments.
Image
Demonstrators at a rally hold pictures of a woman journalist who had been shot dead in the West Bank..webp
Demonstrators hold pictures of Ms. Abu Akleh during a rally in Brooklyn in 2022.Credit…Mostafa Bassim for The New York Times
According to a biography posted on the Israeli Defense Ministry’s website, Captain Scagio was a career soldier who trained as an elite sniper and fought in the West Bank for eight months in 2022. Later, he served in Gaza, following Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023, before being transferred back to the West Bank, the biography said.
Captain Scagio was killed in the West Bank city of Jenin last June, age 22, after his convoy was hit by a roadside explosive, the biography said.
Zeteo’s documentary concluded that Captain Scagio had fired on Ms. Abu Akleh in the same city more than two years earlier. She had been covering an Israeli military raid and clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants. The Zeteo team was led by a former Wall Street Journal correspondent, Dion Nissenbaum, and included a regular freelance contributor to The New York Times,
Wearing protective gear marked with the word “press,” Ms. Abu Akleh was hit while walking with a group of similarly dressed journalists toward a small convoy of Israeli military jeeps. An investigation by The Times in 2022 found that the bullet that killed Ms. Abu Akleh was fired from the approximate location of the Israeli military convoy, most likely by a soldier from an elite unit.
The evidence reviewed by The Times showed that there were no armed Palestinians near her when she was shot. It contradicted Israeli claims that, if a soldier had mistakenly killed her, it was because he had been shooting at a Palestinian gunman.
Image Investigators’ yellow tape is seen on a tree around bullet holes..webp
Investigators’ tape on a tree marks holes from the bullets fired toward Ms. Abu Akleh in 2022. She was wearing protective gear marked with the word “press.”Credit…Samar Hazboun for The New York Times
As an American citizen, Ms. Abu Akleh’s killing prompted the Biden administration to push Israel to more rigorously investigate her death. Later, the Biden administration was itself accused of downplaying Israeli culpability, a charge dismissed by the State Department, which concluded that while Israeli soldiers may have killed the journalist, they did not target her intentionally.
The Zeteo documentary, citing an anonymous source, said that U.S. officials had initially decided after a site visit that Ms. Abu Akleh had been deliberately targeted, before changing their conclusions in the final version of the report to avoid upsetting Israel.
A senior U.S. official familiar with the report said its conclusions were never altered and no draft version had ever concluded that Ms. Abu Akleh had been intentionally killed. The official also said that the American officers who visited the site of the shooting were unable to reach a definitive conclusion on the soldier’s exact line of sight, let alone the shooter’s intention, because the Americans did not assess the site from within an Israeli military vehicle.
The Times investigation was also unable to determine the shooter’s exact field of vision or intention.
The Office of the Security Coordinator — the unit of the State Department that investigated the incident — declined to comment.
Ms. Abu Akleh’s funeral attracted global outcry after Israeli police officers assaulted mourners carrying her coffin, causing them to drop it.
Documentary Identifies Israeli Soldier as Shooter of Palestinian American Journalist
www.nytimes.com
After Shireen Abu Akleh was killed in the West Bank in 2022, the Israeli military never revealed the identity of the soldier who fired at her. A documentary said it had confirmed his name.