EXCERPT
Q: How do I avoid misinformation on Palestine?
There is plenty of misinformation/unverified news circulating around the Israeli siege of Palestine. For example, the President of the United States Joe Biden, in a televised news conference, spread misinformation when he wrongly “confirmed” the beheading of children by Hamas. Promptly afterwards, the White House issued a statement denying that those acts of violence against children had been verified at all. Sources like CNN also issued retractions of similar claims stating that Israel itself was not confirming this had happened. News outlets often leave up unverified claims and post retractions underneath- so always look for retractions before sharing. Do not share or react to unverified reports from anonymous “high-level” sources.
Here are steps you can take to avoid misinformation:
- Don’t share something without fact-checking- even if it's a “reputable” outlet like CNN. Are multiple sources reporting on it?
- Look for the sources the outlets are citing. Are the sources reliable? Israeli military and government officials are not reliable; neither are officials with the White House, State Department or Pentagon
- Think about and ask questions about the agenda of the report or reporters. Many news outlets tailor their stories to specific audiences. Ask yourself, “Who is the audience for this program? Who benefits from this story? What emotions is it supposed to evoke? On whose behalf?
- View stories intended to evoke emotion carefully and be more thoughtful in asking all the questions above.
Source:
https://www.codepink.org/palestinefaq