The Media's 'Death Toll' Fails
And why news organizations' anti-Israel bias is endangering America
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The lies in the media that I've been telling you about are a threat to America. They're building up a very real danger for every democracy, in many ways reminiscent of the danger of Nazism. Here’s a piece I mention that explores the Nazi roots of Islamist hate.
There's no greater example of the media’s willingness to parrot Hamas propaganda than the one I tackle in the new episode of They Stand Corrected: alleged “death tolls” in Gaza. As I explain, “health ministry” is a term for Hamas. And there is no reason to trust any information the terrorist group puts out. But the media has been treating Hamas claims as fact.
The show is designed to be listened to, not read, so there aren’t transcripts here. But for listeners, here are links to some sources I mention, and additional info beyond what I had time to discuss in the show. To support They Stand Corrected, become a paid subscriber here! You’ll be able to post ideas, comments, suggestions, and questions, and access additional content.
Links for listeners
-Before digging into the untrustworthiness of the Hamas claims, I show the bigger picture: Wars with much huger death tolls get, by comparison, virtually no media attention. An estimated 600,000 people were killed due to war in Ethiopia in just two years this decade. You probably did not hear that in the news.
-Some people try to use foreign aid as an excuse to fixate on Israel. That argument falls apart as soon as you run the numbers. Do you think the media pays proportional attention to Ethiopia and other nations based on foreign aid? From Concern USA:
-In Syria, more than 600,000 people have been killed in the war, according to estimates by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. In one year, an estimated 110,000 people were killed.
-I mention this terrific piece, exposing how the media is taking Hamas claims at face value and then slicing and dicing them to come up with wild statistical claims: “Israel’s war on Hamas is the least deadly conflict in region.”
-Honest Reporting does excellent work breaking down some of the Hamas numbers. And here’s a great piece by Wharton statistics and data science professor Abraham Wyner:
-I explain that in wars, you never have exact death tolls, which makes the Hamas numbers even more nonsensical. Here’s a Washington Post piece on the millions of deaths, both direct and indirect, caused by U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
-I also note that it takes time to calculate losses in a horrific terrorist attack like the October 7 massacres by Hamas in Israel. In such attacks, you ultimately do generally get close to a number. Think of the 2,977 killed in the 9/11 attacks. On a per capita basis, the 10/7 attacks in Israel were much bigger:
-Here’s Hamas claiming that it did not kill any civilians on 10/7. This is the group the media is trusting with numbers that it reports as fact.
-And now, Hamas has actually admitted not having data for more than a third of the alleged deaths it has been claiming.
What you can do
When you see news agencies report these figures without saying they’re from Hamas, contact editors and executives. Here’s text you can copy and paste into an email:
Hamas is a vicious terrorist organization that has lied throughout this conflict. Why are you reporting their death toll claims as trustworthy? As the podcast They Stand Corrected explains, there are many reasons to recognize that these figures don’t make sense. What other Hamas claims do you report as though they are factual?
Also, send me links! If you’re a paid subscriber, post links, comments, questions and more right here in Substack. I reach out to news executives all the time.
Meanwhile, I’m preparing episodes about lying in U.S. politics in an election year. What lies are you most concerned about in politics? Post those as well!
And be sure to share this podcast with everyone. You can help get the word out, so that facts take a larger place in the “attention economy.”
Thanks all,
JL
The kids from the 60s were wise using “Peace” as their mantra.