The New York Times issued a statement to its readers regarding its coverage of an explosion of part of a hospital in Gaza, where it initially hinged its reporting on claims from Palestinian officials that the explosion was from an Israeli airstrike.
“The Times’s initial accounts attributed the claim of Israeli responsibility to Palestinian officials, and noted that the Israeli military said it was investigating the blast,” the outlet said in its statement.
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Israel denied the blast came from an Israeli airstrike, and various international officials, including President Joe Biden, have backed up Israel’s claim that the nation was not responsible. The outlet initially led with the claims by Hamas, which the outlet now says they “relied too heavily on.”
The initial headline the New York Times ran on the story was “Israeli Strike Kills Hundreds in Hospital, Palestinians say,” with the outlet later amending it in the following hours to convey the unknown origin of the blast.
“The Times continued to update its coverage as more information became available, reporting the disputed claims of responsibility and noting that the death toll might be lower than initially reported,” the New York Times editors’ note said in part. “Within two hours, the headline and other text at the top of the website reflected the scope of the explosion and the dispute over responsibility.”
The outlet also said it would “continue to examine procedures” around how it breaks news to figure out which “additional safeguards” may be necessary.
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“Given the sensitive nature of the news during a widening conflict, and the prominent promotion it received, Times editors should have taken more care with the initial presentation, and been more explicit about what information could be verified,” the editors’ note concluded. “Newsroom leaders continue to examine procedures around the biggest breaking news events — including for the use of the largest headlines in the digital report — to determine what additional safeguards may be warranted.”
The war in Israel was sparked by terrorist attacks committed by Hamas against Israeli civilians on Oct. 7. The conflict has resulted in more than 6,000 deaths in Israel and Gaza, according to the Associated Press, along with the deaths of at least 30 Americans.
