What I won’t reserve judgment on is the immediate digging in by commentators, politicians and others who made up their minds on the righteousness or depravity of either side the moment this conflict started. Reporters and editors covering this war operate under immense pressure, and this week should remind us to be more circumspect about passing off any government’s statements as fact. I’ll reserve judgment as to whether news organizations messed up on this. The New York Times’ most recent headline, two days after tragedy, is far less declarative than almost anything I read in the immediate aftermath: “ What We Know About the Explosion at the Hospital in Gaza.” Times’ first headline, “At least 500 killed in Israeli airstrike on Gaza City hospital, Gaza Health Ministry says,” changed later that day to, “ Blast kills hundreds at Gaza hospital Hamas blames Israel, which blames Islamic Jihad.” A few hours later, a follow-up alert hit my inbox: “Breaking news: Israel and Palestinians blame each other for Gaza hospital blast.” Similar qualifications crept into headlines that had initially blared the claim that Israel had struck the hospital - for example, the L.A.
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