WARNING: This article contains sensitive topics. Those in need of support can contact the Mental Health Crisis Line: 613-722-6914 (within Ottawa) and 1-866-996-0991 (outside Ottawa), the Ottawa Distress Centre Crisis Line: 613-238-3311, or the Youth Services Bureau 24/7 Crisis Line: 613-260-2360 or 1-877-377-7775 (toll)
As student journalists, we support our colleagues reporting on Palestine.
From on-the-ground press workers in Gaza to student reporters covering activism within university communities, press freedom must be protected. Journalists play a crucial role in upholding democratic values such as free speech and human rights within our communities.
The ever-climbing toll of murdered Palestinian reporters is a chilling example of an attack on press freedom. Just last month, Israeli government attacks in Gaza killed journalists Hossam Shabat and Mohammad Mansour.
This week, an Israeli airstrike on a Gazan hospital tent camp — what is supposed to be a safe space — killed 10 people, with a journalist burning alive.
More than 173 journalists and media workers have been murdered since October 7, 2023, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
“Journalists in Gaza face particularly high risks as they try to cover the conflict, including devastating Israeli airstrikes, famine, the displacement of 90 per cent of Gaza’s population and the destruction of 80 per cent of its buildings,” the Committee to Protect Journalists noted in a Feb. 4 statement.
In capturing the first draft of history, journalists reporting on the ground during the Israel-Palestine conflict risk their safety, lives and careers. We are grateful for their work and condemn the murdering of press workers. Attacks on the lives of journalists violate international humanitarian law and hinder everyone’s ability to be informed members of the international community.
On North American campuses, we must also protect open dialogue, knowledge-sharing and activism.
Last month in Massachusetts, a Tufts University student was arrested by federal agents following her co-authoring an op/ed in her campus newspaper urging the university divest from Israel. Forums to share a diversity of opinions are necessary for dialogue and growth. Suggesting the penning of op/eds warrants arrest or deportation — as the United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested — is despicable and anti-free speech.
We also support our colleagues in Canada reporting on Palestine. Despite repeated attacks issued by Honest Reporting Canada against student journalists, we stand behind Canadian university newspapers reporting on activism and healing happening on campuses.
As student journalists, our role is to cover what’s happening within the university community. We will not back down from doing so, even when interest groups spam our inboxes with intimidation campaigns.
Looking inward, we need to have sensitive conversations within the media landscape about how our profession has fallen short. Many legacy media organizations have been rightfully criticized for harmful, incorrect phrasing in their coverage, such as refusing to publish the word “Palestine.”
Journalists Pacinthe Mattar and Rahaf Farawi refer to this industry norm as “the Palestine exception.” Last September during a Carleton lecture, Mattar said many news outlets are encouraged to report on human rights abuses, except when they occur in Palestine.
Speaking on her decade in public broadcasting, Mattar reflected, “My journalism was fueled by a value we like to say we hold dear: seek out the marginalized, excluded and oppressed, tell their stories with nuance and complexity, while holding the powerful to account. Working alongside some of our industry’s best, we received awards for our sensitive, hard-hitting journalism.
“It felt like no topic was off the table — until my journalism focused on the actions of the Israeli government and military, especially as recounted by a Palestinian.”
Palestinian narratives, especially in the media and in times of conflict, are deeply important. We commend change-makers such as Mattar who are calling out double-standards and advocating for a media landscape that upholds equity ideals at a structural level.
Within our own newsroom, we’ve taken steps over the past year to address gaps in our coverage. The creation of our new culture & community section was inspired after recognizing the voices of student activists sometimes fell between our coverage gaps. This new section has allowed us to create a space to highlight student voices and the issues that matter most to them.
Read and support the work of journalists reporting on Palestine.
