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CNN’s New CEO Addresses ‘Unfortunate News’ of Photojournalist Present During Hamas Attack on Internal Call [1]
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Date: 2023-11-09 16:29:30+00:00
CNN’s new CEO Mark Thompson addressed news that a freelance photojournalist previously employed by the network was present during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, Mediaite has learned, amid allegations that Gaza-based reporters who documented the atrocities that day had advance warning of the plan.
“Unfortunate news,” Thompson told CNN staff on the Thursday morning editorial call. “We’ve discovered that a stringer may have been there during the attack with Hamas on Oct 7. CNN had no prior knowledge of the attack.”
Honest Reporting, a pro-Israel watchdog group, said the work of several Gaza-based photojournalists on Oct. 7 prompted “ethical questions” about how close they were to the perpetrators, given their presence during the attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took those claims a step further, labeling the photojournalists “accomplices in crimes against humanity” and condemning the media outlets that published their work.
The freelance photojournalists submitted photos to the wire services of Reuters and the Associated Press. CNN also employed one of the journalists as a freelancer. A number of other major outlets, including Fox News, used the photojournalist’s images in their coverage of the attack and in the ensuing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
While the report accuses the New York Times of employing one of the photographers, his contributions to the paper consist of two stories, the first of which was published on Oct. 19.
Major international news outlets rejected allegations they had any kind of advance warning of the attack.
The Times responded to the claims with a lengthy statement denouncing the attacks as unfounded.
The accusation that anyone at The New York Times had advance knowledge of the Hamas attacks or accompanied Hamas terrorists during the attacks is untrue and outrageous. It is reckless to make such allegations, putting our journalists on the ground in Israel and Gaza at risk. The Times has extensively covered the Oct. 7 attacks and the war with fairness, impartiality and an abiding understanding of the complexities of the conflict. The advocacy group Honest Reporting has made vague allegations about several freelance photojournalists working in Gaza, including Yousef Masoud. Though Yousef was not working for The Times on the day of the attack, he has since done important work for us. There is no evidence for Honest Reporting’s insinuations. Our review of his work shows that he was doing what photojournalists always do during major news events, documenting the tragedy as it unfolded. We also want to speak in defense of freelance photojournalists working in conflict areas, whose jobs often require them to rush into danger to provide first-hand witness accounts and to document important news. This is the essential role of a free press in wartime. We are gravely concerned that unsupported accusations and threats to freelancers endangers them and undermines work that serves the public interest.
In a statement to Mediaite, CNN said they suspended their relationship with one of the freelance journalists.
“We had no prior knowledge of the October 7th attacks,” CNN said. “Hassan Eslaiah, who was a freelance journalist working for us and many other outlets, was not working for the network on October 7th. As of today, we have severed all ties with him.”
The Associated Press also denied any prior knowledge of the attacks in a statement and laid out how they obtained the images:
The Associated Press had no knowledge of the Oct. 7 attacks before they happened. The first pictures AP received from any freelancer show they were taken more than an hour after the attacks began. No AP staff were at the border at the time of the attacks, nor did any AP staffer cross the border at any time. We are no longer working with Hassan Eslaiah, who had been an occasional freelancer for AP and other international news organizations in Gaza. AP uses images taken by freelancers around the world. When we accept freelance photos, we take great steps to verify the authenticity of the images and that they show what is purported. The role of the AP is to gather information on breaking news events around the world, wherever they happen, even when those events are horrific and cause mass casualties.
Reuters denied embedding any journalists with Hamas in its own statement and explained its connections to the photographers:
“We are aware of a report by HonestReporting and accusations made against two freelance photographers who contributed to Reuters coverage of the Oct. 7 attack,” the statement said. “Reuters categorically denies that it had prior knowledge of the attack or that we embedded journalists with Hamas on Oct 7.”
“Reuters acquired photographs from two Gaza-based freelance photographers who were at the border on the morning of Oct. 7, with whom it did not have a prior relationship. The photographs published by Reuters were taken two hours after Hamas fired rockets across southern Israel and more than 45 minutes after Israel said gunmen had crossed the border,” the outlet continued. “Reuters staff journalists were not on the ground at the locations referred to in the HonestReporting article.”
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[1] Url:
https://www.mediaite.com/media/cnns-new-ceo-addresses-unfortunate-news-of-photojournalist-present-during-hamas-attack-on-internal-call/
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