It was easily the worst reporting seen last year and some of the worst in several years. Last fall numerous major news outlets ran with the story of Israel bombing a hospital in Gaza, leading to 500 deaths at the scene. This sparked riots in several countries, saw select embassies come under attack, and even a formal meeting between President Biden and Jordan was immediately scrubbed due to this event. 

But it was an event that never transpired. 

Soon the news outlets scrambled as it was learned the rocket originated in Gaza - targeting Israel. It crashed nearby but did not impact the hospital, and the scores of fatalities were not evident. Days later this type of fiasco was repeated, as initial claims of a church housing Gazans fleeing attacks was said to have collapsed following an Israeli strike, leading to hundreds perishing in the rubble. Then daybreak arrived and the church was found still standing, intact. These are the same news outlets that wail about fake news and misinformation, committing the worst version of their claimed fears.

Now, as our country is beginning to simmer with anti-semitic discontent, we have CNN resorting to this very same type of fractured reporting, mindless of the inflammatory impacts it might lead to here, and abroad. You might have caught this story of hundreds of bodies discovered at a hospital in Gaza following IDF troops pulling out of the region. It has all of the dangerous supposition attached, as well as many of the same elements of those previous disastrous reports: Hundreds claimed killed, allegations made by Hamas officials, and Israel painted as the nefarious force absent any proof.

We find one small difference in this particular example – CNN provides all of the disqualifying information itself, in the same report. The issue is the way this is framed and presented, as it is a stark example of journalism ethics being tossed over the transom. The piece opens in this fashion:

A mass grave with more than 300 bodies has been uncovered at a hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, Gaza Civil Defense workers said, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area earlier this month.

This is a passage dripping with implication. Then they give a quote from a spokesman stating the bodies were showing signs of being tied up, and many were possibly buried alive. Curiously, he then says many of the bodies were decomposed, which sounds very surprising given IDF forces had only been on site controlling the hospital recently.

Finally, deeper in the report, CNN delivers the first sign of trouble with this coverage.

CNN is unable to verify Suleiman’s claims and cannot confirm the causes of death among the bodies being unearthed.

Now any responsible news outlet would see this as cause to pause and collect more information, but this should be the practice, especially given the prior disasters of reporting from this area relying on deeply suspicious sourcing. CNN instead is content to run these inflammatory headlines and base them on a solitary source from a proven flawed origination point. 

Then it gets worse. It is not until half a dozen paragraphs that we get this revealing dose of evidence from the scene - provided by their own reporter. 

A CNN stringer who visited the scene Sunday said people had buried the bodies of family members who had been killed in the grounds of the hospital in January as a temporary measure. When they returned after the Israeli withdrawal they found the bodies had been exhumed – apparently because the IDF was using DNA testing to determine whether any of the hostages held in Gaza were among the dead.

This detail indicates clearly that the bodies discovered were buried by locals. It also predated the time that IDF troops took control of the hospital, where Hamas had forces stationed in its basement. Yet despite this – and clearly despite knowing these facts – CNN was content to lead with the implication that Israel had generated mass casualties and then tossed those in a potter’s grave. 

As for the claims made of violent and brutal behavior by the spokesman from the “Gaza Civil Defense” (read: Hamas), that inflammatory language should have been struck entirely. CNN’s own person on the scene confirmed the burials were made by the Palestinians, possibly prior to Israel’s arrival, so these wild claims of sadism by the IDF at the very least need to be called into question.

This is shameful reporting on its surface, but it's made worse by the previous error-filled stories of this nature from the region. Then, when you see the swelling protests in this country, one would think a matter of sober approaches to these reports would rule, but instead, we have CNN appearing as if it wants to stoke those outrages further. This is a disgraceful display from this network.