The vanishing terrorists: The New York Times' new Gaza reporting strategy - opinion

Reporting on war casualties is a significant responsibility for a news outlet, especially one that prides itself on journalistic professionalism. The New York Times, for instance, reported on Gaza casualties for over two years, during the October 7 war. They published 6,696 headlines on the topic, with 19.5% of them discussing death and killing. Of those, 653 specifically mentioned Palestinian casualties in Gaza. However, their reporting strategy has come under scrutiny.

One major issue is the lack of distinction between combatants and civilians in the casualty figures. In the 11 headlines that mentioned the cumulative number of casualties, none specified whether the victims were combatants or civilians. Additionally, they didn't mention that the numbers included Hamas fighters, or the consequences of failed rocket attacks by Hamas. This omission led readers to believe that all casualties were civilians.

The New York Times also displayed a bias when it came to their source. They never questioned the reliability of the cumulative casualty figures, even though they did question the IDF's assessment of the number of terrorists killed. In contrast, they only published one headline questioning the IDF's assessment, which was published around a fabricated death toll figure reported by former President Joe Biden.

In terms of the internal breakdown of casualties, 85% of the casualty headlines referred to civilians or Palestinians, with 553 headlines specifically stating this. This suggests that only 15% of the headlines addressed the killing of Hamas fighters. While 86% of these 653 headlines about Palestinian casualties mentioned Hamas members, only 14 referred to Hamas fighters other than Haniyeh, Deif, Sinwar, or Arouri - about 2% of all headlines about Palestinian casualties.

This reporting strategy appears to align with Hamas' strategy of making no distinction between combatants and civilians. They often conceal Hamas soldiers among civilians, or have fighters shed their uniforms during confrontations to act as human shields. This tactic aims to confuse the IDF, delay their firing, and to manipulate international perceptions of the casualties.

However, even half of the 14 headlines that did report on terrorist casualties presented the information as an Israeli claim, questioning its credibility. Only 7 out of 653 headlines dealing with Palestinian casualties clearly reported on the death of combatants on the battlefield in Gaza. This demonstrates a complete internalization of Hamas' casualty-reporting strategy.