Silence on Slain Journalists: A Global Standard?
CBS News dutifully reported on the tragic death of Peruvian journalist Fernando Nuñez, ambushed by hitmen for his corruption coverage. A horrific story, certainly. But where was that same righteous indignation, CBS, when Shireen Abu Akleh , a Palestinian-American journalist, was shot dead while covering an Israeli raid in the West Bank? Or the 109 journalists (and counting) killed in Gaza since
October 7, 2023, largely by Israeli forces, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists? One might almost think some journalists' lives are more valuable than others, depending on the geopolitical narrative. This selective outrage isn't just tone-deaf; it's a feature of media that carefully curates which victims deserve our grief and which deaths are simply 'collateral damage.' When it's a
'hitman' in Peru, it's a tragedy deserving a headline. When it's an alleged Israeli sniper, or an indiscriminately bombed apartment building full of media workers in Gaza, the silence is deafening. How many journalist deaths does it take for a condemnation to cross the editorial desk?