A bipartisan group of House lawmakers is demanding Reuters fess up about whether or not its journalists had superior data of Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist raid on Israel.
In a letter, 13 lawmakers pressed Reuters President Paul Pascobert about allegations a Reuters journalist, who appeared embedded with the terrorists, knew concerning the deliberate assault however “said nothing.”
They mentioned that Hamas‘ assault was “well-documented on that day, including by journalists associated with Reuters News.”
“We write today to raise concerns about the implications of this content, particularly whether there was any prior knowledge of the attack by Reuters journalists and any connection to Hamas by your company,” mentioned the letter which was spearheaded by Rep. Mike Lawler, New York Republican.
Reuters didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from The Washington Times. The information company beforehand denied having prior data of the Oct. 7 assault.
The letter posed a collection of questions on how the journalist knew to be awake in the course of the early morning assault and whether or not they had contact with Hamas earlier than or in the course of the raid.
“If the answer is yes to any of these questions, when did you become aware of this and what actions have you taken in light of these facts,” it mentioned.
Media watchdog HonestReporting additionally questioned why a number of freelance photojournalists working for CNN, The New York Times, Reuters, The Associated Press and different media retailers have been on the bottom for the assault so early, and whether or not the information organizations had greenlit their presence on the scene of the brutal assault that killed 1,400 individuals in Israel.
HonestReporting highlighted photojournalist Hassan Eslaiah, who had his work printed by the AP and CNN. The report included a photograph of Mr. Eslaiah being kissed on the cheek by Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar. Both retailers reduce ties with Mr. Eslaiah.
Though the journalists have been unnamed within the letter, Reuters printed pictures of the Oct. 7 assault from two photographers — Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa and Yasser Qudih — who Honest Reporting mentioned “also happened to be at the border just in time for Hamas’ infiltration.”
HonestReporting later clarified that it “did not accuse Reuters of the collusion [but had] rightly raised some serious ethical issues regarding news outlets’ association with these freelancers.”
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