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Al Jazeera in Palestine: A timeline of coverage against all odds
The network has continued to report on the plight of Palestinians, despite intimidation.
www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2025/1/3/a-history-of-al-jazeera-in-palestine
By Shola Lawal
Published On 3 Jan 2025
3 Jan 2025
Al Jazeera Media Network has strongly condemned the Palestinian Authority (PA) ban on its operations in the occupied West Bank this week, calling it an action that “aligns with Israeli occupation practises”.
Since its launch in 1996, Al Jazeera’s reporters have covered the Middle East, from the Arab Spring to Israeli settler violence in the West Bank and the brutal war on Gaza, even when other news organisations pulled their journalists out.
From the start, Al Jazeera has faced attempts to silence its reporting through arrests, imprisonment and attacks on its journalists. And since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023, the channel has faced even more attempts to stifle its reporting on Palestine.
Al Jazeera’s determination to provide round-the-clock, firsthand reporting on the horrors in Gaza and the deadly raids in the occupied West Bank has come at a high cost, with at least six Al Jazeera journalists killed in the Palestinian territory since 2022.
The PA’s decision to ban Al Jazeera mirrors Israel’s announcement last year that the channel would be banned in Israel and then its closure of the bureau in Ramallah.
Here’s a breakdown of how Al Jazeera has been targeted by both the PA and Israel:
Israeli soldiers raid, order closure of Al Jazeera office in Ramallah [Screengrab/Al Jazeera]
Israeli soldiers raid and order the closure of the Al Jazeera office in Ramallah, September 22, 2024 [Screengrab/Al Jazeera]
When did Al Jazeera start reporting from the West Bank and Gaza?
Al Jazeera has been reporting in Palestine since 2000, marking Al Jazeera Arabic’s first attempt to launch a foreign bureau.
There are Al Jazeera bureaus in Ramallah and occupied East Jerusalem in the West Bank, although both have now been suspended by the Israeli government or the PA.
In 2021, Israeli forces bombed the Gaza bureau.
How many times has the PA shut Al Jazeera down?
The PA controls parts of the occupied West Bank and has suspended Al Jazeera’s operations there three times:
In March 2001, the PA, led at the time by President Yasser Arafat, invaded Al Jazeera’s Ramallah offices and prevented staff from accessing the building. No official reasons were provided. However, bureau chief Walid Al-Omari said at the time that a security official had called the bureau and accused the network of airing footage “offensive” to Arafat, demanding that it be removed.
On July 15, 2009, PA security officials stormed Al Jazeera’s Ramallah offices and banned its 35 employees from broadcasting. Officials alleged the network had broadcast “false information” because late Palestinian politician Farouk Kaddoumi, in an interview, accused PA President Mahmoud Abbas of involvement in an Israeli plot to kill Arafat. The office was allowed to reopen four days later following an outcry from journalists’ rights groups.
In December 2024, Fatah, the Palestinian party that dominates the PA, banned Al Jazeera from reporting from the governorates of Jenin, Qalqilya and Tubas in the occupied West Bank, citing its coverage of clashes between the Palestinian security forces and Palestinian armed groups. Since mid-December, PA security forces have cracked down on the armed groups in what analysts say is an attempt to endear the PA to the Israelis and the United States. The crackdown has led to the killing of several civilians as well as the West Bank journalist Shatha Sabbagh, 22.
On January 2, 2025, the PA suspended all Al Jazeera broadcasts from the West Bank and placed restrictions on anyone working for the network.
How many times has Israel shut Al Jazeera down?
Israeli authorities have repeatedly attempted to muzzle Al Jazeera. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long accused the network’s coverage of “inciting violence”. The network refutes these claims as “arbitrary and hostile”.
In July 2017, Netanyahu threatened to close Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem office in a Facebook post because the network covered a fallout between Palestinians and Israeli authorities over Al-Aqsa Mosque.
In May 2021, Israel bombed Al Jazeera’s Gaza office. Israeli forces gave Al Jazeera and other media organisations in the same building just one hour to evacuate the tower.
In May 2024, Al Jazeera’s occupied East Jerusalem bureau was raided and closedafter the Israeli parliament passed a law allowing the government to suspend the operations of foreign media that pose a “threat”, for 45 days at a time. The ban, including a ban on Al Jazeera’s website in Israel, has been renewed multiple times and remains in place. Al Jazeera now reports from Amman, Jordan.
In September 2024, heavily armed and masked Israeli security forces raided Al Jazeera’s office in Ramallah at 3am and shuttered its operations as the bureau was broadcasting live. Israeli officials alleged that the network supported “terrorism” and ordered operations to be closed for 45 days. Al Jazeera staff were forced to stand on the street and were threatened with a laser weapon during the raid.
Solidarity gathering at Al Jazeera for journalists killed in Gaza
Solidarity gathering at Al Jazeera for journalists killed in Gaza [Al Jazeera]
How many Al Jazeera journalists have been killed or injured in the West Bank and Gaza?
At least six Al Jazeera journalists have been killed by Israeli authorities in the West Bank and Gaza while on duty. In most cases, the journalists were wearing marked press vests or were in clearly marked cars.
Shireen Abu Akleh: Veteran journalist Abu Akleh was shot and killed by a bullet to the head on May 11, 2022, while reporting on an Israeli raid on Jenin, in the occupied West Bank. Despite the fact she was wearing a helmet and a vest clearly marked with “Press”, the bullet from an Israeli sniper penetrated just below her helmet. Israeli forces at first tried to blame “crossfire” from Palestinian fighters but were forced to backtrack when ample video evidence proved no Palestinian fighters were nearby. No action has been taken against the sniper. Israeli forces attacked her funeral procession attended by thousands of Palestinians paying their respects – at one point causing her coffin to slip and nearly hit the ground.
Samer Abudaqa: On December 15, 2023, an Israeli air attack injured Al Jazeera cameraman Abudaqa in Khan Younis, Gaza. Israeli officials prevented emergency vehicles from reaching him despite international pleas as he bled out over several hours.
Wael Dahdouh: Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief, whose wife, son, daughter and grandson were killed by Israeli bombs on Gaza, was filming with Abudaqa and was injured in the same attack. On January 7, 2024, Dahdouh’s son, Hamza Dahdouh, who also worked as a journalist for Al Jazeera, was killed in an attack alongside his colleague, Mustafa Thuraya.
Ismail Abu Omar: On February 13, 2024, an Israeli drone hit Abu Omar, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent, and his cameraman, Ahmad Matar, in Rafah, southern Gaza. The two men were critically injured.
Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi: Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent al-Ghoul was reporting with cameraman al-Rifi on July 31, 2024, when an Israeli air raid hit their car in the Shati refugee area of Gaza City. Al-Ghoul had previously been detained and severely beaten by Israeli forces in March 2024 as he covered raids on the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Hossam Shabat: Shabat was injured on November 20, 2024, during a second Israeli raid on a house that had just been hit, and that he was reporting on.
Ahmed al-Louh: Israel killed Al Jazeera Arabic photojournalist al-Louh on December 15, 2024, while he was covering attempts by the Palestinian Civil Defence to rescue an injured family in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp. Five others were killed.
Al Jazeera in Palestine: A timeline of coverage against all odds
www.aljazeera.com
The network has continued to report on the plight of Palestinians, despite intimidation.
Israeli strike kills 5 Al-Quds Al-Youm TV journalists in central Gaza
cpj.org/2024/12/israeli-strike-kills-5-al-quds-al-youm-tv-journalists-in-central-gaza/
December 26, 2024 1:38 PM EST
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Beirut, December 26, 2024—Israeli forces killed five journalists and media workers with Al-Quds Al-Youm TV, a channel affiliated with the Islamic Jihad militant group, in a Thursday strike on their vehicleoutside Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp. The Associated Press reported that footage showed the van had visible press markings.
“CPJ denounces Israel’s killing of five journalists working for Al-Quds Al-Youm TV,” said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director in New York. “The Israeli strike on their vehicle, which was clearly marked ‘Press,’ means that at least nine Gazan journalists have been killed in less than two weeks. The international community must act now to protect Palestinian journalists in Gaza and end Israel’s impunity for these killings.”
The five journalists killed on December 26 have been identified as:
Correspondent Faisal Abu Al Qumsan
Camera operator Ayman Al Gedi
Photographer and editor Fadi Hassouna
Editor Mohammed Al-Ladaa
Producer and fixer Ibrahim Sheikh Ali
An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson posted on social media platform X that those killed on December 26 were militants posing as journalists.
CPJ’s email to the IDF’s North America Media desk asking whether the journalists were targeted for their work or whether there was any evidence that they were militants did not receive an immediate response.
Earlier in December, Israeli forces killed four journalists in separate strikes on December 14 and 15.
cpj.org
Beirut, December 26, 2024—Israeli forces killed five journalists and media workers with Al-Quds Al-Youm TV, a channel affiliated with the Islamic Jihad militant group, in a Thursday strike on their …
Israel hits broadcast van killing five Palestinian journalists in Gaza
www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/26/five-journalists-killed-in-israeli-strike-near-gaza-hospital#ix… from Al-Quds Today were covering events at al-Awda Hospital when their clearly marked press vehicle was struck, according to reports. from Al-Quds Today were covering events at al-Awda Hospital when their clearly marked press vehicle was struck, according to reports.Press vests on the ground as Palestinian Journalists in Gaza protest the targeting of press and Al Jazeera colleagues..jpegPress vests were removed as part of a protest against Israel's targeting of Palestinian journalists in Gaza [Al Jazeera]Published On 26 Dec 202426 Dec 2024Israel has targeted a broadcast van close to a hospital in central Gaza, killing at least five journalists, according to Palestinian authorities and media reports.The journalists from the al-Quds Today channel were covering events near al-Awda Hospital, located in the Nuseirat refugee camp, when their broadcasting van was hit by an Israeli air strike, Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif reported early on Thursday morning.INTERACTIVE-GAZA-Five journalists killed in Israeli strike-DEC26-2024-1735198406(Al Jazeera)Footage from the scene circulating on social media shows a vehicle engulfed in flames.A screenshot taken from a video of the white-coloured van shows the word “press” in large red lettering across the back of the vehicle.end of listKEEP READING list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Protests in Syria after ‘old’ video shows attack on Alawite shrine list 2 of 4Jailbreak amid Mozambique protests sees 1,500 prisoners escape, 33 killed list 3 of 4Biden, Trump send different Christmas messages in US list 4 of 4As 20 years pass since world’s worst tsunami, experts warn of complacency The deceased journalists have been named as Fadi Hassouna, Ibrahim al-Sheikh Ali, Mohammed al-Ladah, Faisal Abu al-Qumsan and Ayman al-Jadi.Al Jazeera’s al-Sharif said that Ayman al-Jadi had been waiting for his wife in front of the hospital while she was in labour to give birth to their first child.
tCivil defence teams retrieved the bodies of the victims and extinguished a fire at the scene, the Quds News Network said.Israel’s military said it had carried out a “targeted” attack against a vehicle carrying members of Islamic Jihad and that it would continue to take action against “terrorist organisations” in Gaza.“Prior to the attack, many steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians, including the use of precision weapons, aerial observations, and additional intelligence information,” the military said in a post on X.Israel, which has not allowed foreign journalists to enter the Gaza Strip except on military embeds, has been condemned by several press freedom organisations, which now rate the Strip as the most dangerous part of the world for reporting.Earlier this month, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said more than 145 journalists had been killed by the Israeli army in Gaza since the start of the war in October 2023, condemning the high death toll as an “unprecedented massacre”.The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said this month that at least 141 journalists have been killed in Gaza, calling on the international community to hold Israel accountable for its attacks against the media.CPJ said on Thursday that it was “devastated” by reports of the five journalists killed inside their broadcasting vehicle. “Journalists are civilians and must always be protected,” it said on X.The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate last week reported a higher death toll, stating that more than 190 journalists had been killed and at least 400 injured since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza.AdvertisementThe syndicate condemned the “heinous attack” and called for “international protection” for journalists in Gaza.Israel also banned Al Jazeera from its territory and accused six of its Gaza reporters of being members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.The network vehemently condemned the “unfounded allegations” and said Israel had used “fabricated accusations … to silence the few remaining journalists in the region, thereby obscuring the harsh realities of the war from audiences
Five Gaza journalists killed in Israeli strike targeting armed group
www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yg57wrgl7o
Raffi Berg & Emir Nader
In London & Jerusalem
Reuters Gaza's civil defence members tackle a fire in a van with "Press" written on the back door following an Israeli strike in the Nuseirat refugee camp (26/12/24)Reuters
The vehicle, which had "press" markings, was parked at a hospital when it was hit
A Palestinian TV channel says five of its journalists have been killed in an Israeli strike in the central Gaza Strip.
They were in a Quds Today van parked outside al-Awda hospital, where the wife of one of the journalists was about to give birth, in the central Nuseirat refugee camp.
The channel posted a video of what it said was the burning vehicle with "press" signage on the back doors.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had targeted "Islamic Jihad operatives posing as journalists" and that steps were taken to avoid harming civilians.
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The BBC has not been able to verify claims made by either side, with international media being prevented by Israel from entering and freely working on the ground in Gaza.
Quds Today is affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), an armed group that took part in the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. The unprecedented attack triggered the war in Gaza. The TV channel is believed to receive funding from the group.
In a separate development, the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital on the northern edge of Gaza said on Thursday about 50 people, including five of its staff, had been killed in an Israeli strike on a building by the hospital. A paediatrician and two paramedics were among them.
The IDF said it was "unaware of strikes" in the hospital area, adding that it was looking into claims that five doctors had been killed.
"The number of casualties reported in the media does not align with the information held by the IDF," it said.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it was "devastated by the reports" of five journalists being killed in the central Gaza Strip.
"Journalists are civilians and must always be protected," it said.
The Israeli military named the five killed as Ibrahim Jamal Ibrahim Al-Sheikh Ali; Faisal Abdallah Muhammad Abu Qamsan; Mohammed Ayad Khamis al-Ladaa; Ayman Nihad Abd Alrahman Jadi; and Fadi Ihab Muhammad Ramadan Hassouna.
It said "intelligence from multiple sources confirmed" that all were PIJ operatives, and that a list found during an operation in Gaza "explicitly identified four" of them as such.
In a statement, Quds Today said the men "were killed as they carried out their media and humanitarian duty".
As of 20 December, at least 133 Palestinian journalists have been killed during the course of the war, making it the deadliest conflict for journalists, according to the CPJ.
The press freedom organisation has called for accountability for Palestinian journalists who have been directly targeted by the Israeli military.
At least another five people were also reported killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza City on Wednesday.
The Palestinian Wafa news agency, and the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, also said a further 20 people were injured in the city's al-Zeitoun neighbourhood.
The Israeli military has not commented on the reported bombing.
Meanwhile, the father of a two-week-old Palestinian girl has told the BBC how his baby daughter froze to death in a tent in Gaza – the third child in a week to die in similar conditions.
Mahmoud Ismail Al-Faseeh said he woke up in the severe cold to find his daughter, Sila, suffering convulsions. She was rushed to hospital but died from hypothermia, the head of paediatrics at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis told the Associated Press news agency.
The family was sheltering in al-Mawasi area on Gaza's coast, a strip of land designated by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as a humanitarian zone but which has been hit by air strikes.
Ahmed al-Farra, the head of paediatrics, said two other babies – one three days old and the other a month old – had been brought in over the past 48 hours after dying from hypothermia.
Hopes of progress towards a ceasefire in recent days have begun to recede, with Hamas and Israel blaming each other.
Hamas accused the Israeli government of imposing "new conditions" that it said were delaying the agreement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the group was reneging on understandings that had already been reached about a possible ceasefire.
The latest statements mark a notable change of tone on both sides following optimistic signals.
The Israeli military launched air strikes and a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip in response to last year's Hamas attack. About 1,200 people were killed in the attack and another 251 taken back to Gaza as hostages.
More than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive, Gaza's health ministry says. Almost two million people – 90% of the population – have been displaced, according to the UN.
Additional reporting by Jaroslav Lukiv.
Five Gaza journalists killed in Israeli strike targeting armed group
www.bbc.com
A Palestinian TV channel says they were in a marked media van in the central Gaza Strip.
104 journalists killed this year, according to the IFJ
www.ifj.org//media-centre/news/detail/category/press-releases/article/104-journalists-killed-this…
According to the annual report of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), 2024 was another particularly deadly year for journalists and media professionals. As of 10 December 2024, 104 journalists had been killed worldwide, more than half of them in Gaza, Palestine (55). The IFJ reaffirms its determination to see an International Convention for the Protection of Journalists adopted by the United Nations as a matter of urgency.
Credit: IFJ.
To mark International Human Rights Day on 10 December, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has published the initial findings of its 2024 annual report on journalists and media workers killed in the line of duty. According to the latest data, which is still incomplete, 104 media professionals have been killed since 1 January, including 12 women, representing 11.5% of the Federation's total.
By 2023, the IFJ had documented 129 deaths, including 14 women, one of the deadliest years for journalists since the IFJ began publishing its list of journalists killed in 1990.
MIDDLE EAST AND ARAB WORLD: 66
For the second year running, it is the Middle East and Arab World region that holds the macabre record for the number of journalists killed: 66 deaths in 2024.
The war in Gaza and Lebanon once again highlights the massacre suffered by Palestinian (55), Lebanese (6) and Syrian (1) media professionals, representing 60% of all journalists killed in 2024. Since the start of the war on 7 October 2023, the number of Palestinian journalists killed has risen to at least 138, making this country one of the most dangerous in the history of modern journalism, behind Iraq, the Philippines and Mexico.
On 13 October 2023, the IFJ called on Unesco to protect journalists, establish a lasting ceasefire, open humanitarian corridors for civilians, and allow Gaza journalists to take refuge outside the enclave and foreign reporters to enter the enclave. All to no avail.
Elsewhere in the region, the Federation counts three media professionals murdered in Iraq this year, including two women on 23 August, and a photographer killed in Syria on 4 December.
ASIA-PACIFIC: 20
In Asia-Pacific, the IFJ's largest geographical region, the number of deaths in 2024 (20) was considerably higher than in 2023 (12) and 2022 (16), with an upsurge in violence in South Asia: the IFJ deplores 6 murders in Pakistan, 5 in Bangladesh and 3 in India, i.e. 70% of all deaths in the region. In addition, the military regime in Myanmar is continuing its hunt for journalists – 3 journalists have been killed this year – while Indonesia and Kazakhstan have each had one death.
AFRICA: 8
8 journalists were murdered in Africa in 2024 – 4 in 2022 and 9 in 2023 – but it was Sudan that paid the heaviest price with 5 deaths, as a result of the generals' war, which is particularly deadly. Two Somali journalists and a Chadian journalist also lost their lives, which also testifies to the fragile and violent political situations in these two countries.
AMERICAS: 6
Before the outbreak of the war in Gaza, Latin America, and Mexico in particular, was one of the most dangerous regions in the world for media professionals.
In 2024, the IFJ counts 6 deaths – compared to 30 in 2022 and 6 in 2023 – including five Mexicans and one Colombian. Once again, threats, intimidation, kidnappings and murders are due to reports on drug trafficking, which has plagued Mexico for more than two decades.
EUROPE : 4
The war in Ukraine has again claimed victims on the continent, with 4 journalists killed in 2024, compared with 13 in 2022 and 4 in 2023. Despite this conflict, Europe remains the safest continent in the world.
JOURNALISTS IN PRISON: 520
On 10 December 2024, the IFJ counted 520 journalists in prison, representing a sharp increase compared with 2023 (427) and 2022 (375).
With 135 journalists behind bars, China – including Hong Kong – remains the world's biggest prison for media professionals, ahead of Israel (59 Palestinian journalists) and Myanmar (44).
The Asia-Pacific region alone has 254 journalists in prison, ahead of wider Europe (142), the Middle East and Arab world (101), Africa (17) and Latin America (6).
IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: "These sad figures show once again how fragile is press freedom and how risky and dangerous is the profession of journalism. The public's need for information is very real at a time when authoritarian regimes are developing all over the world. Greater vigilance on the part of our profession is required. We urge the Member States of the United Nations to take action to ensure the adoption of a binding convention on the safety of journalists, so as to put an end to the deaths and injuries that occur every year".
Download the list of journalists and media workers killed in 2024.
Download the list of jailed journalists and media workers in 2024.
For more information, please contact IFJ on +32 2 235 22 16
The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 146 countries
Follow the IFJ on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
104 journalists killed this year, according to the IFJ / IFJ
www.ifj.org
According to the annual report of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), 2024 was another particularly deadly year for journalists and media professionals. As of 10 December 2024, 104 jour…
H.R. 9495 legislation also threatens our union itself, because unions are also nonprofits.
TELL CONGRESS: DEFEND NONPROFIT WORKERS
newsguild.org/tell-congress-defend-nonprofit-workers/
Posted on November 20, 2024Author The NewsGuild-CWA
This week the U.S. House is voting on H.R. 9495, a bill which includes a provision that would disempower nonprofits and pose a threat to critical organizations supporting communities nationwide. We urge Members of Congress to vote NO on H.R. 9495 given the inclusion of this provision.
This legislation threatens nonprofit workers at ProPublica, the Texas Tribune, Spotlight PA, American Civil Liberties Union affiliates, the Natural Resource Defense Council, Southern Poverty Law Center and more who are members of The NewsGuild-CWA.
And the legislation also threatens our union itself, because unions are also nonprofits.
Section 4 of the bill is particularly concerning. Titled “Termination of tax-exempt status of terrorist supporting organizations,” this provision would give the Treasury Secretary near-unilateral power to strip the nonprofit status of any organization considered to be providing “material support or resources” to a terrorist organization. Such unilateral power could easily be abused by any future administration to target political opponents, shut down newsrooms and silence freedom of speech and affiliation in the United States.
It was narrowly defeated in an earlier vote on November 12 because it failed to clear a two-thirds majority vote in the House. House Republicans reintroduced the bill in a second attempt to pass it and changed the rules so only a simple majority is needed to pass it and move it to the Senate.
I’m asking you to contact your U.S. Representative TODAY and ask them to vote NO on H.R. 9495 and preserve our free speech and the free press.
SEND YOUR LETTER TO CONGRESS
Download and share this graphic on socials here:
TELL CONGRESS: DEFEND NONPROFIT WORKERS | The NewsGuild – TNG-CWA
newsguild.org
I’m asking you to contact your U.S. Representative TODAY and ask them to vote NO on H.R. 9495 and preserve our free speech and the free press.
The AI Reporter That Took My Old Job Just Got Fired
www.wired.com/story/the-ai-reporter-who-took-my-old-job-just-got-fired/
GUTHRIE SCRIMGEOUR
NOV 21, 2024 5:00 AMBUSINESS
A local newspaper in Hawaii experimented with AI-generated presenters to engage and boost its readership. After two months, the bots have been shelved.
A reporter holding a mic
James and Rose, the bizarre AI bots who were recently installed as news broadcasters at local Hawaii paper The Garden Island, have been terminated.
Employee retention is always a bit of a problem at local newspapers, and The Garden Island newspaper on the Hawaiian island of Kauai is no exception. Many reporters—usually mainland transplants like myself—would stick around for just a couple years before moving on, and some only lasted months.ADVERTISEMENT
WIRED’s resident AI expert Will Knight takes you to the cutting edge of this fast-changing field and beyond—keeping you informed about where AI and technology are headed. Delivered on Wednesdays.
After a two-month run, James and Rose have joined our ranks, as their broadcast has been discontinued, according to a representative for The Garden Island’s parent company, Oahu Publications (OPI). The pair were designed by Caledo, an Israeli firm that turns articles into videos where AI hosts discuss the news with one another. The Garden Island’s program was the first of its kind in the United States, and Caledo said at the time that it intended to expand it to hundreds of other local newspapers throughout the country—this is still the aim, according to a spokesperson.
While OPI declined to comment further, and Caledo declared the program a success without elaborating on this particular scenario, it seems likely that a broadly negative public response played into the decision to end James and Rose’s tenure at The Garden Island.
James, a middle-aged Asian man, and Rose, a younger redhead, were never able to figure out how to present the news in a manner that wasn’t deeply off-putting for viewers. Their program, which ran twice a week on Youtube, Facebook, and Instagram, covered topics as varied as a fall pumpkin giveaway and a vigil for a labor massacre—all in the same distant, matter-of-fact tone of beings incapable of comprehending human emotions.
In one particularly stilted exchange about the pumpkin giveaway, Rose asked James, “And how have these free pumpkins impacted the community?” to which James responded, “The free pumpkins have brought joy to many.”
They consistently butchered difficult Hawaiian names and even had surprising struggles with much simpler words. In their final broadcast on November 4, while discussing an air rifle championship, Rose inexplicably replaced the word “rifle” with the word “referee.”
In the polarized months leading up to the election, the pair managed to inspire visceral, bipartisan contempt. Comments under the videos were nearly universally negative.
“This is scary,” reads one Facebook comment from The Maui News, another local Hawaii paper. The nonprofit Hawaii journalism outlet Honolulu Civil Beat used them as a fundraising hook. “You no longer have to imagine a world where local news and information is generated by an algorithm,” wrote Ben Nishimoto, Civil Beat’s vice president of operations and philanthropy, in a September email, referring to the broadcast. “That dystopia is here. And it’s terrifying.”
I never like to root against fellow reporters, but I’ll admit I was also happy to see them go. While James and Rose did not actively supplant any existing newsroom jobs, I was concerned that the effort diverted resources that could be used on traditional media expenses, like human reporters, photographers, and editors.
The Garden Island was severely underresourced—for much of my time working there, I was one of only two reporters covering an island of 73,000. The paper was purchased earlier this year by the conglomerate Carpenter Media Group, which controls more than 100 local outlets throughout North America.
Caledo, while declining to disclose how much it was paid, said that new ads embedded in the broadcasts would offset the cost of the program. However, it does not appear as though OPI was able to sell a single ad on the videos.
James and Rose began every broadcast by announcing that the program was sponsored by Longs Drugs, a Hawaii local subsidiary of CVS. But Longs Drugs reported that it had a preexisting sponsorship agreement with OPI and that it had not been notified its logo would be used in the AI videos. “We have since asked that they run all Longs logo usage by us moving forward,” Amy Thibault, a CVS spokesperson, says. No other embedded advertisements appeared on the broadcasts.
Over its run, the tech did see some minor improvements. James began his tenure as lead anchor, at which point he was unable to blink and his hands were constantly vibrating. He was demoted to second anchor in mid-October, where he began blinking more regularly and his odd hand vibration was replaced by a single emphatic gesture.
But this proved to be too little too late. I wish James and Rose the best of luck in their future endeavors—it’s a tough job market out there.
The AI Reporter That Took My Old Job Just Got Fired
www.wired.com
A local newspaper in Hawaii experimented with AI-generated presenters to engage and boost its readership. After two months, the bots have been shelved.
Trump picks Brendan Carr, who laid out agenda in Project 2025, as FCC chairman
Carr vowed to take on “censorship” by Big Tech companies in Project 2025, which laid out a conservative agenda for Donald Trump’s second term.
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/11/17/fcc-transition-brendan-carr/
Brendan Carr at a House hearing in 2022. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
By Eva Dou and Cristiano Lima-Strong
Updated November 17, 2024 at 10:38 p.m. EST|Published November 17, 2024 at 8:13 p.m. EST
President-elect Donald Trump said Sunday he was naming Brendan Carr as the next Federal Communications Commission chairman, positioning the regulatory agency to do battle against social media companies and TV broadcasters that Republicans portray as too liberal.
Carr, 45, the senior Republican among the FCC’s five commissioners, has vowed in recent days to take on what he called a “censorship cartel” including Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft. Earlier this year, he laid out an aggressive agenda for the FCC in Project 2025, a conservative proposal for Trump’s second term developed by the Heritage Foundation. Carr has been a vocal supporter of billionaire Elon Musk and an advocate of tougher restrictions on China.
“Commissioner Carr is a warrior for Free Speech, and has fought against the regulatory Lawfare that has stifled Americans’ Freedoms, and held back our Economy,” Trump said in a statement Sunday evening. “He will end the regulatory onslaught that has been crippling America’s Job Creators and Innovators, and ensure that the FCC delivers for rural America.”
Carr said Sunday night on X that he was “humbled and honored” to serve in the position, and that he would seek to “dismantle the censorship cartel and restore free speech rights for everyday Americans.”
Follow live updates on the transition to Trump’s second presidency. We’re tracking the people Trump has picked or is considering to fill his Cabinet and key positions in his administration.
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The FCC, which regulates TV and radio broadcasting, telephone and internet service providers, as well as satellites, is an independent agency, but it has pursued a more Democratic agenda during the Biden administration, under the leadership of Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat.
Carr began making moves even before he was named to take charge under the incoming Trump administration. On Wednesday, he sent a letter to Apple chief executive Tim Cook, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, warning that he believed they were improperly censoring some viewpoints. He wrote that the new Trump administration may review their companies’ activities.
“Americans have lived through an unprecedented surge in censorship,” he wrote. “Your companies played significant roles in this improper conduct.”
Carr has also indicated that he would scrutinize TV broadcasters in instances that Republicans view as political bias, through the narrow legal authority that the FCC has over such issues. When Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on “Saturday Night Live” days before the election, Carr blasted NBC for trying to “evade” an FCC rule requiring networks to give candidates equal time. NBC later said it gave Trump a commensurate slot following a NASCAR race.
Carr’s ascent also bodes well for the business prospects of Musk, the world’s richest man, with the two cultivating a closer relationship in recent months. Carr has visited SpaceX facilities multiple times this year, including trekking to southern Texas last month to witness SpaceX’s Starship rocket booster float back to Earth in a historic landing.
Musk, who after going all-in on Trump’s campaign has been playing a central role in assembling and vetting key figures in his new administration, on Sunday praised Carr’s plans to take on the “censorship cartel,” posting “based” on X, a slang term meaning approval.
Pending decisions before the FCC include whether to allow Musk’s Starlink satellites to orbit closer to Earth, which would make its internet service speedier and a fiercer competitor to traditional broadband providers. Carr has advocated for Starlink to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in FCC grants. Musk’s social media platform X also stands to benefit from Carr’s vow to scrutinize its rival internet giants such as Facebook and Google.
“His deregulatory views and his affection for Elon Musk are well-known. I expect few surprises,” said Andrew Schwartzman, a veteran telecommunications lawyer.
Trump picks Brendan Carr as FCC chairman
www.washingtonpost.com
Carr vowed to take on “censorship” by Big Tech companies in Project 2025, which laid out a conservative agenda for Donald Trump’s second term.
50 years after free press declaration, dismissed Korean journalists take to streets again
Journalists formerly of the Dong-A Ilbo and Chosun Ilbo denounced the current administration’s attempts to control the free press
english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1164359.html
Posted on : 2024-10-25 16:43 KST Modified on : 2024-10-25 16:43 KST
Half a century ago, on Oct. 24, 1974, journalists from the Dong-A Ilbo and 30 other news organizations around Korea declared their commitment to a free press, in opposition to the censorship of the press by the Yushin dictatorship of Park Chung-hee. On Thursday, a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the free press declaration was held at the Korean Press Center in Seoul.
The 50th anniversary ceremony was jointly organized by the Dong-A Committee for Free Press and the Chosun Committee for Free Press, groups made up of reporters dismissed from these two major Korean daily newspapers, and by media and civic groups including the National Union of Media Workers and the Citizens’ Coalition for Democratic Media.
The groups marched past the offices of the Dong-A Ilbo and Chosun Ilbo in Seoul’s Jongno District to the Korea Press Center, while chanting slogans about the realization of a free press and condemning the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s attempts to bend the free press to its will.
Members of committees for the struggle to safeguard a free press at the Dong-A Ilbo and Chosun Ilbo and other civic groups march past the headquarters of Chosun Ilbo. (Jung Yong-il_Hankyoreh).jpeg
Members of committees for the struggle to safeguard a free press at the Dong-A Ilbo and Chosun Ilbo and other civic groups march past the headquarters of Chosun Ilbo. (Jung Yong-il/Hankyoreh)
“The political forces that directly controlled the press with guns and swords in hand 50 years ago are now stifling the activities of the free press using prosecutors and their arbitrary raids and issuance of warrants,” the committees said in a joint statement.
“Public broadcasting — what could rightly be called the bridgehead for the formation of a healthy public forum in our society — faces pressure from all sides. This pressure is an attempt to bring public broadcasting to ruin,” the statement went on.
At 9 am on Oct. 24, 1974, 180 Dong-A Ilbo journalists gathered in their newsroom to adopt the free press declaration. (Hankyoreh file photo)
[Photo] 50 years after free press declaration, dismissed Korean journalists take to streets again
english.hani.co.kr
Journalists formerly of the Dong-A Ilbo and Chosun Ilbo denounced the current administration’s attempts to control the free press
NWU Stands Unrelentingly with Gazan Journalists
nwu.org/nwu-statement-oct24/
by National Writers Union, October 10, 2024
“Every day that this war goes on, our commitment to Palestinian journalists and PJS grows stronger. They will not surrender and neither will we.”
The National Writers Union (NWU) unequivocally condemns Israel’s ongoing, targeted murder of journalists. We are exasperated, incensed, and heartbroken over this massacre, with impunity, of our fellow journalists. An attack on one journalist is an attack on all of us, and we implore all newsrooms and unions to treat these murders as they would the murder of colleagues at home. We reiterate our demand for an immediate arms embargo against Israel, and reject the harassment of journalists worldwide for covering and speaking out about Palestinians.
In just the past week, six more Palestinian media workers have been killed or gravely injured:
On October 6, an Israeli air strike killed 19-year-old Hassan Hamad, a freelance TV reporter, at his home in the Jabalia refugee camp in Northern Gaza, after he was reportedly threatened by an Israeli officer via WhatsApp.
On October 7, Israeli forces shot another cameraman, Ali Al-Attar; he remains in critical condition.
On October 9, Israeli snipers shot Fadi Al-Wahidi during a raid of Jabalia Refugee Camp; he was critically injured. Israeli warplanes targeted and killed Al Aqsa TV photojournalist Mohammed Al-Tanani, and injured his colleague, Tamar Lubbad, in North Gaza. The Israeli military also killed Omar Al-Balaawi, a journalist and school teacher.
Since October 7, 2023, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has found that Israeli forces have killed at least 128 media workers, all but five of them Palestinian. In at least five cases, the deaths were a result of intentional attacks. Our sibling union, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (PJS), counts more than 150 slain journalists, comprising 10 percent of the Palestinian press corps, and some 200 wounded.
PJS has documented Israel’s targeting of journalists’ workplaces and homes, including surgical air strikes that have killed journalists’ entire families. Israeli forces admitted to killing Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi, but smeared these reporters as “terrorists” to justify their deaths.
More than 100 Palestinian journalists are in Israeli prisons, in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem, according to PJS. Most have been held on nebulous charges or no charge at all.
“The systematic crimes against journalists have ranged from killing those who bear witness to the truth, to imprisoning and intimidating them,” said Nasser Abu Bakr, president of PJS.“Even more devastatingly, their homes have been destroyed, their families killed, and their media institutions targeted.”
All this is happening against the backdrop of grave media censorship, with the Israeli government continuing to bar international press from accessing the region, repeatedly shutting down the internet, and raiding and shuttering offices. Meanwhile, Western outlets have been muted in condemning these crimes against our colleagues and our profession.
“While Palestinian journalists are being silenced with bullets, many US journalists are being silenced by firings, intimidation, fear, and self-censorship,” said NWU president Larry Goldbetter. “Every day that this war goes on, our commitment to Palestinian journalists and PJS grows stronger. They will not surrender and neither will we.”
In May, NWU released a report that analyzed 44 cases of retaliation since October 7, 2023, affecting more than 100 people. We found that journalists of color and particularly those of Muslim and Arab descent were disproportionately impacted.
“When management at media organizations keep their employees in the West from critically covering the Israeli government, highlighting extreme violence on social media, or advocating for the protection of their colleagues, they contribute to the escalating violence that is materially affecting the most vulnerable media workers in Gaza,” the report says. “They also risk undermining several core journalistic imperatives—including the imperative to minimize harm. In other words, retaliation is just as much a media ethics issue as it is a labor issue.”
We again call on our colleagues in newsrooms and unions across the US to demand an end to these murders and an end to the arming of Israel.