We have appended an Editors' Note about Mohammed Zakaria, a child in Gaza
1–10 of 17 posts
Re: We have appended an Editors' Note about Mohammed Zakaria, a child in Gaza
#2Why not a retraction? Do newspapers do that anymore or just put oops my bad statements ?
Re: We have appended an Editors' Note about Mohammed Zakaria, a child in Gaza
#3Why not a retraction? Do newspapers do that anymore or just put oops my bad statements ?
A retraction is for when a paper says something which is not true. In this case they are adding additional detail to something which is true; a retraction would make no sense.
Re: We have appended an Editors' Note about Mohammed Zakaria, a child in Gaza
#4Why not a retraction? Do newspapers do that anymore or just put oops my bad statements ?
Why would they? Does starvation not aggravate all pre-existing conditions?
The fact that anyone on earth is splitting hairs about this shows you how desperately messed up everything is.
There is absolutely no moral victory whatsoever in defining down starvation, but that is what is happening, ultimately, whether in this story or in any others.
Re: We have appended an Editors' Note about Mohammed Zakaria, a child in Gaza
#5Why not a retraction? Do newspapers do that anymore or just put oops my bad statements ?
Why would they? Does starvation not aggravate all pre-existing conditions? The fact that anyone on earth is splitting hairs about this shows you how desperately messed up everything is. There is absolutely no moral victory whatsoever in defining down starvation, but that is what is happening, ultimately, whether in this story or in any others.
This is a routine thing that happens on social media in regards to Israel. A child with a terrible disease, or a child from a different conflict like Syria, will go viral with a headline "look how terrible israel is causing this disease"
At a time when most of the world is critizing Israel's food distribution program in Gaza (who its at war with), correctly stating the child is diseased and not simply suffering malnutrition is relevant.
Unrelated
I live in NYC, Occasionally walking around with my dad (doctor), well see someone who is skin and bone.
My impulse is the person has anorexia, he says no, that person has late stage X disease. Just incorrect to think the woman has anorexia due to a mental disorder when she has organ failjre happening due to something else.
Re: We have appended an Editors' Note about Mohammed Zakaria, a child in Gaza
#6The editor's note in full:
> This article has been updated to include information about Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, a child in Gaza suffering from severe malnutrition. After publication of the article, The Times learned from his doctor that Mohammed also had pre-existing health problems.
So a child starving to death also had "pre-existing health problems". What are they? Do they explain why he's severely malnourished? Are they actually relevant at all, or is this just a bullshit qualification meant to undermine any errant sympathy for a starving Palestinian boy? If only there were a journalist around to tell us!
Re: We have appended an Editors' Note about Mohammed Zakaria, a child in Gaza
#7Why not a retraction? Do newspapers do that anymore or just put oops my bad statements ?
A retraction is for when a paper says something which is not true. In this case they are adding additional detail to something which is true; a retraction would make no sense.
Indeed in this case what they are surely doing is resisting an onslaught of bullying pressure to retract, by addressing it this way.
Unusual for the NYT to show this much spine but perhaps their bravery reflects a growing unease in the chattering around the US administration about their own policy choices that have emerged out of what people charitably assumed was Trump's dark satirical trolling about turning Gaza into a riviera to try to provoke capitulation.
What has gone on here -- and the low key "they aren't starving, this is just the long term consequences of not getting enough food" talking point sleight of hand -- feels like the origin story of some future event that will bring about the end of the western world. We have not even the pretence of morality here.
Re: We have appended an Editors' Note about Mohammed Zakaria, a child in Gaza
#8Why not a retraction? Do newspapers do that anymore or just put oops my bad statements ?
The account where this note is published is @NYTimesPR. It has 89K followers. Their main account, @nytimes, has 55M followers. Not only is this short of a retraction, but they chose to distribute it on a channel with 0.16% of their main account followers.
Re: We have appended an Editors' Note about Mohammed Zakaria, a child in Gaza
#9The editor's note in full: > This article has been updated to include information about Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, a child in Gaza suffering from severe malnutrition. After publication of the article, The Times learned from his doctor that Mohammed also had pre-existing health problems. So a child starving to death also had "pre-existing health problems". What are they? Do they explain why he's severely malnourishe…
Or could the photographer have found other children that looked like they were in Bergen-Belsen?
And then released unfiltered photos?
I'm sure it's possible--I don't doubt the starvation--but I suspect persuasion/propaganda has been more of the Zeitgeist in that area for too long
Re: We have appended an Editors' Note about Mohammed Zakaria, a child in Gaza
#10The editor's note in full: > This article has been updated to include information about Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, a child in Gaza suffering from severe malnutrition. After publication of the article, The Times learned from his doctor that Mohammed also had pre-existing health problems. So a child starving to death also had "pre-existing health problems". What are they? Do they explain why he's severely malnourishe…
This is the problem with the editors here using weasel phrasing like "pre-existing health problems" while at the same time still strongly implying that this child's condition is caused by starvation. In fact he suffers from cerebral palsy, and other photos from the same photoshoot clearly show his apparently healthy brother and mother present at the same time.
Source: https://david-collier.com/the-truth-behind-the-viral-gaza-fa...