Yet another whistleblower, this time from the Toronto Star, is speaking out about their newsroom’s censorship of stories about Palestine.
They’re the latest voice in a growing chorus of journalists who have spoken out about a culture of silence, obfuscation and general failure when it comes to covering the genocide.
This is why we’re pushing back through the organization I joined, Canadian Journalists for Justice in Palestine.
I’ve had stories about Palestine unjustly and confusingly left unpublished when I worked in mainstream news.
In a piece for the Breach, a whistleblower from CBC shared a similar story about pushback and profound anti-Palestinian bias in their newsroom.
The Breach also reported that CTV directed journalists “not to use the word ‘Palestine’ and has cultivated a ‘culture of fear’ that is suppressive critical coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza.”
A Palestinian former Global News journalist, Zahraa Al-Akhrass, has spoken out publicly about her termination from the news outlet — which she said came after she had been actively sharing her perspective on social media about Israel’s violence against Palestinians in Gaza.
Now, in a new piece published by the Al Jazeera media institute, a Toronto Star journalist is sharing what they described as Canadian media’s failure to cover international affairs.
Their paper “censors by delay,” and has a culture of silence.
Even when the facts are verifiable, the editor would surgically edit the story, which goes on for a few weeks, and once the contributor pushes back– the publication would pay out the journalist for their time and foregoe the story.”
I know that’s true because it happened to me.
I’ve been afraid to say anything because I didn’t want to lose a future opportunity — but today, I’m speaking out.
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