The Listening Post
A weekly programme that examines and dissects the world's media, how they operate and the stories they cover.
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The narrative war over Israel’s Arab vote | The Listening Post
The historic elections in Israel - the first since October 7 and a test of Benjamin Netanyahu’s political survival - saw voters turn out in unprecedented numbers, including a record share of Palestinian citizens of Israel, whose vote was met with demonisation from politicians and media. The Listening Post's Richard Gizbert and Meenakshi Ravi discuss the bigger story emerging around who turned out
The scramble to rewrite Biden's record on Gaza | The Listening Post
Three years after the October 7 attacks and the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, there have been a slew of books, podcasts and media appearances revisiting what happened. Much of this is coming from former Biden officials who are trying to whitewash the administration's support for Israel and rehabilitate their reputations. They are being welcomed across mainstream media, whilst those with more
Netanyahu's fight to own the election narrative | The Listening Post
With elections one month away, the media discourse in Israel has narrowed in on one question about one man: What did Benjamin Netanyahu know before October 7? The prime minister is suing the Israeli newspaper that reported the claim, while the right-wing Channel 14 insists none of it matters. Missing from the coverage is any reckoning with what Israel has done in Gaza. Contributors: Dan Perry – Au
The media battle behind Brazil’s election | The Listening Post
As Brazilians head into national elections, there’s a familiar name on the ballot: Bolsonaro. Not former President Jair Bolsonaro. It’s his son Flavio, who is presenting himself to the electorate as a more moderate version of his father. Election coverage has been dominated by a major corruption scandal - the biggest banking fraud case in the country’s history. Brazilians are accustomed to corrupt
The media battle behind Brazil's election | The Listening Post
As Brazilians head into national elections, there’s a familiar name on the ballot: Bolsonaro. Not former President Jair Bolsonaro. It’s his son Flavio, who is presenting himself to the electorate as a more moderate version of his father. Election coverage has been dominated by a major corruption scandal - the biggest banking fraud case in the country’s history. Brazilians are accustomed to corrupt
The media battle behind Brazil’s election | The Listening Post
As Brazilians head into national elections, there’s a familiar name on the ballot: Bolsonaro. Not former President Jair Bolsonaro. It’s his son Flavio, who is presenting himself to the electorate as a more moderate version of his father. Election coverage has been dominated by a major corruption scandal - the biggest banking fraud case in the country’s history. Brazilians are accustomed to corrupt
Doomsday AI: panic, regulation and the China fear | The Listening Post
AI’s existential threat to humanity is dominating headlines across the globe. But with so much attention on the fear of a future AI apocalypse, is the media ignoring the damage AI is already causing? And as AI CEOs join forces to call for regulations, is their motivation about public safety or to secure their grip on the technology’s future? Contributors: Leo Schwartz – Reporter, The Information
Selling the war: Purges, polygraphs and propaganda | The Listening Post
With the US midterm elections just weeks away, Donald Trump’s administration is trying to put a positive spin on a war with Iran that shows no sign of letting up. Climbing fuel and grocery prices, the president’s provocative social media posts and the Pentagon’s combative relationship with the media are making that story harder to sell. Contributors: Laicie Heeley – Editor-in-chief, Inkstick Mark
How the media manufactured consent for genocide | The Listening Post
Assal Rad built a reputation on social media as the “headline fixer” for her work correcting journalistic sins at major news outlets. The historian joins presenter Richard Gizbert to discuss her new book, ‘Don’t Say Palestine - How the Media Manufactured Consent for Genocide.’ In it, Rad traces the role mainstream media played in normalising the dehumanisation of Palestinians and whitewashing Isra
Trump’s war loop: Escalate, retreat, repeat | The Listening Post
For decades, much of the United States media adopted Washington’s framing of US conflicts in the Middle East. But the US-Israel war against Iran is defying that trend. US news outlets are increasingly challenging President Donald Trump on his declarations of victory and absence of a clear strategy. Meanwhile, Iran’s military remains operational, Tehran retains control of the Strait of Hormuz and f
Israel's Image Crisis: Becoming Too Big to Spin?
As criticism of Israel mounts over its wars on Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, along with the escalating settler violence in the occupied West Bank, the country is ramping up its PR offensive. From a carefully managed appearance of Benjamin Netanyahu on CBS’s 60 Minutes to a major expansion of Israel’s Hasbara operation, the push includes pouring money into digital campaigns and media messaging. The goal
Iran's Infowar: Lego, AI and ever tightening control | The Listening Post
The information front has been central to the Iranian government’s war effort. For an external audience, there is an innovative online strategy that has consisted of AI Lego, memes and hip hop diss tracks directed at Donald Trump and the MAGA base. But this coexists with more brutal domestic tactics: crackdowns, arrests and internet blackouts. The result has been the Iranian authorities making use
Hormuz: Spin in the Strait | The Listening Post
A fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran holds - but the information war intensifies. At the centre: the Strait of Hormuz, where competing US and Iranian narratives have collided. During any truce, even when the bombs stop falling, the information war goes on. Moments like this test journalism. Because the job is not just to report on the messaging coming from all sides - but to decode and deb
War spirals as information control tightens | The Listening Post
The war on Iran has entered a much more damaging phase with more assassinations of the leadership in Tehran, the continued blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and major strikes on energy infrastructure across the region. As the war has escalated, pressure on news organisations in the United States, Israel and Iran is increasing. Contributors: Branko Marcetic – Writer, Jacobin Arta Moeini – Institute
“A war in search of a strategy” - Trump-Netanyahu's war with Iran | The Listening Post
One week into the United States and Israel’s war on Iran, and the messaging coming from the White House is consistently chaotic and contradictory. From regime change and nuclear threat to preemptive attack - the Trump administration is struggling to juggle its narrative. And while the mainstream media is working overtime to legitimise the Trump-Netanyahu war at home, Americans remain unconvinced.
Trump, Iran and geopolitical mind games | The Listening Post
As Washington escalates threats of military action against Iran, negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear programme continue behind the scenes. But while the Trump administration insists that the standoff is about security, Iran’s state media are pushing a very different narrative: that the crisis is a deliberate distraction from the Epstein scandal that continues to implicate the US president. Contribu
The AI alarm cycle: Lots of talk, little action | The Listening Post
A series of warnings from artificial intelligence (AI) industry insiders shows how the debate around AI drives extreme news cycles, swinging between hype and alarm. The result is media coverage that overlooks the intricacies of this technology and its impact on everyday life. We examine the real risks, what’s being overstated, and what major tech companies stand to gain from all the fearmongering.
The Epstein files cover-up: Botched or calculated? | The Listening Post
The latest tranche of the Epstein files contains more than three million documents - the largest release of its kind. In what appears to be a clumsy attempt at a cover-up by the US Department of Justice, the sloppily redacted names of high-profile perpetrators have failed to conceal the intricate web of global elites spanning politics, royalty, Hollywood and tech. The fallout in Europe has resulte
The anatomy of the Epstein network | The Listening Post
The Epstein files dump has led to days of intense media coverage, revealing how powerful elites around the world engaged in either illegal or morally reprehensible behaviour. But even as journalists sift through millions of documents, one of the most significant stories remains largely missing from the mainstream narrative. Contributor: Murtaza Hussain - National security and foreign affairs repor
Has the Trump administration overplayed its spin? | The Listening Post
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the fatal shooting of a protester by border control agents triggered mass demonstrations and presented the Trump administration with an unexpected test of its immigration strategy. Footage captured by onlookers has undercut official statements and intensified questions about the level of force and use of high-tech tools being used to crack down on dissent. Contributors:
Trump’s obsession with Greenland | The Listening Post
Donald Trump’s latest attempt to seize Greenland shows that the president is willing to use US force to determine international borders, even at the expense of sovereignty. Western allies - NATO countries included - publicly formed a united front, but private messages have revealed a more deferential approach to dealing with Trump. This latest crisis may have been averted, but the question remain
Iran: The protests, the blackout and the narrative war
This past week, Iranian protesters were labelled “terrorists” and “saboteurs” by the state. That rhetoric was accompanied by an internet blackout and a surge in violence, with the death toll still unclear. Simultaneously, tensions between the United States and Iran escalated, raising the stakes in what has become one of the most serious political upheavals in the country in years. Contributors: To
The spin and misinformation around Bondi was inevitable | The Listening Post
The horrific Bondi Beach attack in Australia was pulled into Israel’s global information war this past week. As blame was directed towards pro-Palestine politics, media narratives blurred Jewish identity and Israeli state policy - raising urgent questions about who is put at risk when Israel’s anti-Palestinian messaging travels beyond its borders. Contributors: Naama Blatman – Executive member, Je
Why the huge bidding war over Warner Bros? | The Listening Post
For more than a century, Warner Bros has been one of Hollywood’s biggest players, a legacy studio that helped define the Golden Age of cinema with iconic blockbuster movies. Now, it’s at the centre of a contentious, billion-dollar bidding war between Netflix, the world's leading streaming platform, and Paramount Skydance, owned by the powerful Ellison family, which has close ties to President Trum
Sorry, not sorry: Netanyahu demands a pardon | The Listening Post
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is asking for a pardon over a range of corruption charges laid against him after repeatedly telling Israeli journalists that he would clear his name in court. The prime minister has long described the case against him as a witch-hunt led by the media and the judiciary. If he succeeds in sidestepping the courts, Israeli journalists and judges will wonder wh
Why isn’t US media busting the ‘narco-state’ myth? | The Listening Post
The United States’ deadly “counter-narcotics mission” off Venezuela’s coast hinges on an unproven drug-smuggling narrative - a familiar pretext for regime change, and one the mainstream media have been quick to echo. Meanwhile, Venezuelans face escalating repression at home. Contributors: Spencer Ackerman - Author, Reign of Terror and Waller vs Wildstorm Abby Martin - Journalist, The Empire Files
Israel is rampaging through the West Bank - why isn't there more coverage? | The Listening Post
In the West Bank, record levels of Israeli settler violence against Palestinians are unfolding with little mainstream coverage. The few journalists who try to report on it often face attacks themselves. When the violence is covered, the settlers are often framed as fringe actors, despite clear backing from the Israeli state. A de facto annexation is under way in the West Bank, and yet much of the
Upheaval at the BBC: Is it a crisis or a coup? | The Listening Post
The BBC is in turmoil. A leaked dossier exposing a misedited speech of United States President Donald Trump and other editorial concerns has triggered resignations at the top - and a $1bn lawsuit threat from the US leader. Why the leak surfaced now, and who steps in next, are still open questions. Most importantly, will the BBC be able to recover from this moment? Contributors: Ben de Pear – Forme
Torture, Leak, Outrage: Israel's Sde Teiman Affair | The Listening Post
The Israeli government is facing what it calls a “public relations disaster” after a video surfaced showing soldiers torturing and sexually assaulting a Palestinian prisoner - a clear war crime under any legal system. Public outrage in Israel has focused less on the abuse itself and more on the leak. And the military’s chief prosecutor, who admitted leaking the footage, has been arrested and brand
Media, money & the rise of Zohran Mamdani | The Listening Post
In this special episode of The Listening Post, we examine the rise of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. A democratic socialist and outspoken critic of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Mamdani has faced a barrage of hostility from US mainstream media, the political donor class and the democratic establishment alike. The press has been particularly relentless, questioning not only Mamdani’s
El-Fasher: Siege, starvation and a media blackout | The Listening Post
El-Fasher, Sudan: a city besieged, starving and largely unseen. As journalists come under fire in Sudan, a lack of international media interest is helping to conceal one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Contributors: Hassan Berkia – Journalist Kholood Khair – Director, Confluence Advisory Khalid Medani – Associate Professor, McGill Institute of Islamic Studies On our radar: In the occupie
Gaza ceasefire: Peace deal or political theatre? | The Listening Post
As Donald Trump tries to take credit for a ceasefire in Gaza, Israel continues to kill Palestinians. And as both Israeli and Palestinian captives are released, the glaring double standards in coverage lay bare how this genocide was allowed to go on for so long. Contributors: Tahani Mustafa – Visiting Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations Mouin Rabbani – Co-editor, Jadaliyya Kenneth Roth –
Bari Weiss and the Israel narrative in the US | The Listening Post
For the past couple of months, the billionaire father-son duo of Larry and David Ellison have been making deals involving major media brands. Having acquired Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, they appointed Bari Weiss - an outspoken supporter of Israel - as the network’s editor-in-chief. The moves by the Ellisons are not just about growing their media empire, but about shaping the narrati
Smear. Kill. Repeat. | The Listening Post
In this special episode, we examine the systematic targeting of Palestinian journalists in Gaza during two years of Israeli genocide. With international media barred from freely reporting in the Strip, local journalists have risked their lives to document the unprecedented killing, destruction and displacement around them. Since October 7, 2023, more media workers have been killed in Gaza than in
Palestinian statehood: Recognition amidst erasure? | The Listening Post
After almost 2 years of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Western powers have issued synchronised declarations recognising Palestinian statehood - a diplomatic move seemingly born out of the immense public pressure they face. What’s missing from the story is the concrete measures those governments could take to stop the slaughter in Gaza, as well as their complicity by continuing to supply weapons to Isr
The crackdown in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination | The Listening Post
It’s been just more than a week since the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and in death, as in life, the far-right podcaster is proving divisive. While his supporters mourn, many critics have seized the moment to call out his polarising legacy - a legacy now being weaponised by far-right leaders from DC to Tel Aviv. Contributors: Jeffrey Sharlet - Professor, Dartmouth College Jude Russo - Managing e
Attack on Qatar: Israel’s ever-expanding war | The Listening Post
Israel’s rampage through the Middle East continues, with an attack on United States ally, Qatar. As Arab nations evaluate the value of a US security guarantee, we examine the fallout in the region and beyond. Contributors: Elham Fakhro – Research Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School Laleh Khalili – Professor of Gulf Studies, University of Exeter Yossi Mekelberg – Senior Fellow, Chatham House Yousef Muna
Israel’s most lethal operation in Gaza is under way
Israel’s renewed offensive in Gaza City - the largest Palestinian population centre - is being framed as an assault on Hamas’s “final stronghold”. But behind that narrative lies a campaign of expulsion and erasure that bears all the hallmarks of an endgame. Contributors: Dana Mills - Writer, Local Call & +972 Magazine Muhammad Shehada - Journalist Saree Makdisi - Professor of English & Comparativ
Inside India’s expulsion of Bengali Muslims | The Listening Post
India is expelling Bengali Muslims - stripping citizenship, detaining and deporting them to Bangladesh. The crackdown has spread nationwide, prompted by years of BJP propaganda and a news media all too willing to sell the story of a Muslim "enemy within". Contributors: Shoaib Daniyal - Political editor, Scroll Fatima Khan - Political journalist Vaishna Roy - Editor, Frontline magazine Paranjoy Gu
The Epstein Crisis: A MAGA mess of Trump’s making
The Epstein saga has flipped the script within the MAGA movement. Having spent years accusing the Democrats of an establishment cover-up, many right-wing influencers are now turning against their idol, President Trump, as he resists calls to release the files. Contributors: Joan Donovan - Director, CriticalNet Mehdi Hasan - Editor-in-chief, Zeteo News Miles Klee - Culture writer, Rolling Stone Dan
“Nobody is better than Netanyahu at manipulating the US” | The Listening Post
As Netanyahu courts Trump with peace prizes and platitudes, divisions over Israel in the MAGA media space are deepening. Contributors: Laura Albast – Fellow, Institute for Palestine Studies Mitchell Plitnick – Author, Except for Palestine Mouin Rabbani – Co-editor, Jadaliyya Jude Russo – Managing editor, The American Conservative On our radar: Since the US-Israeli GHF took over the distribution of
“Decisions are being made out of fear” BBC and the Gaza double standard | The Listening Post
At Glastonbury, Britain’s biggest music festival, two artists called out Israel’s genocide in Gaza and accused the British government of complicity. On-stage remarks by one of them - Bob Vylan - plunged the country's public broadcaster, the BBC, which livestreamed the performance, into yet another Gaza-shaped row. Contributors: Des Freedman – Author, The Media Manifesto Peter Oborne – Journalist a
Trump battles for credit for his Iran intervention | The Listening Post
From negotiating with Iran to bombing its nuclear facilities and then brokering a ceasefire, Trump’s erratic pivots appear to be driven more by optics than coherent diplomacy. Mainstream Western news outlets, however, are making the job easier - painting Iran as an existential threat while downplaying Israel’s illegal actions. Contributors: Roxane Farmanfarmaian – Senior fellow, European Leadersh
Will Netanyahu convince Trump to bomb Iran? | The Listening Post
Israel's war on Iran was one that many have expected, and yet with nuclear talks between the United States and Iran ongoing, few saw it coming. Propaganda from the Netanyahu government and credulous reporting in the Western media have played a major part in how we got here. Contributors: Narges Bajoghli – Author, Iran Reframed Matt Duss – Executive Vice President, Center for International Policy A
Preemptive strike? The media and Israel’s attack on Iran | The Listening Post
Israel has launched an unprovoked assault on Iran, including strikes on nuclear facilities and assassinations of several senior military commanders and scientists. In front of the world’s media, however, the Netanyahu government is spinning the attack as “preemptive”. Contributor: Negar Mortazavi – Host, The Iran Podcast On our radar: This past week, phone and internet services virtually collapsed
The Hamas-ceasefire 'collapse' blame cycle | The Listening Post
Throughout the various ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, western news outlets have repeatedly blamed their failure on Hamas. This week, we hear a perspective that rarely features in the coverage - the group's own - on the negotiations and the media narratives that surround them. Contributors: Tahani Mustafa – Senior Palestine Analyst, International Crisis Group Basem Naim – Politbu
The sudden surge of genocide critique in the West | The Listening Post
More than 600 days into its genocidal war in Gaza, some of Israel's closest allies have begun to condemn its actions. Alongside the changing global narrative, growing opposition in Israel to the Netanyahu government's war methods has seeped into the media coverage - fracturing a consensus that dates back to October 7, 2023. Contributors: Yara Hawari – Co-Director, Al-Shabaka Natasha Lennard – Con
Israel: "Gaza will be entirely destroyed" | The Listening Post
The images coming out of Gaza are apocalyptic, depicting the latest - and perhaps final - chapter in a genocide. Under an operation called Gideon’s Chariots, the Israeli military is forcing Palestinians into tiny corners of the besieged enclave. Its next phase: another full-scale invasion aimed at taking complete control of the territory. Contributors: Hani M Abuishaiba – Gaza correspondent, Al Ja
Trump’s moment in the Middle East
United States President Donald Trump's tour of the Middle East this week is his first international trip since he started his second term. Conspicuously absent from his itinerary, however, was Washington’s closest ally in the region: Israel. In the US and Israeli media, the apparent snub has fuelled talk of a growing rift between Trump and his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu. Contributors:
Embrace the occupation: A new phase in Israel’s genocide in Gaza | The Listening Post
One might think that images of starving children, as political leaders withhold aid and openly call for ethnic cleansing, would be topping news agendas everywhere. In the case of Gaza, the failure of many in the international media to meet the moment has made them part of the story. Lead contributors: Chris Doyle – Director, Council for Arab-British Understanding Daniel Levy – President, US/Middle
Indian media descend into war frenzy after Kashmir attack | The Listening Post
A deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir shattered a narrative Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has spent years constructing - that Kashmir was safe, open for business, and back to “normal”. In response, Indian officials have launched a sweeping crackdown and spurred nationalist rhetoric. Much of the media is echoing the government line. Too busy demanding revenge to ask the most ba
How technocracy has become our reality
As tech billionaires infiltrate the White House, the question looms, “Who really rules us, the government or Silicon Valley?" This film examines the influence and ideology of technocrats over the last century, and asks whether they pose a threat to democracy. Contributors: Gil Duran – Tech journalist Siva Vaidhyanathan – Professor of Media Studies, University of Virginia Payal Arora – Digital anth
Gaza: ‘Silence is not an option. We record to resist’ | The Listening Post
The renewal of Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza has unleashed yet more death, destruction and displacement, but Palestinians remain determined to make the world witness their plight. Contributors: Shahd Abusalama – Palestinian scholar and artist Omer Bartov – Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Brown University Abdaljawad Omar – Lecturer, Birzeit University; writer and analyst The art o
AI and doxxing sites: Trump vs antiwar activists
Over the past month, hundreds of international students in the US have either been detained, deported, or stripped of their visas for protesting Israel’s war on Gaza. The Trump administration’s crackdown is being described as an assault on political dissent - one that has been enabled by mainstream news outlets and pro-Zionist pressure groups. This story is about more than just visas. It’s about w
Protests in Turkiye and the role of the media there | The Listening Post
Turkiye is witnessing its largest protests in more than a decade. Millions have taken to the streets after the arrest of Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu - who is seen as the biggest challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s presidency. Nearly 2,000 people have been detained so far, including journalists. But despite myriad official efforts to suppress news coverage, protesters keep pouring on
How Israel shattered the ceasefire in Gaza | The Listening Post
The ceasefire brokered by President Donald Trump in January barely lived up to its name. Despite the deal, Israel continued its attacks on Gaza, killing more than 150 Palestinians in just eight weeks. The last remnants of hope were shattered as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched one of the deadliest bombing campaigns since the genocide began - followed by a ground invasion. Israeli outlets
Syria: An eruption of violence and a misinformation crisis
Just months after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, Syria has been rocked by an eruption of violence. Coastal towns have turned into killing fields, with forces aligned with the government accused of massacring hundreds of civilians from religious minorities. The Syrian online space is also littered with misinformation - part of an information war that is inciting sectarian fear and deepening
Israel resumes its war crimes in Gaza | The Listening Post
Seven weeks into the Gaza ceasefire deal, Israel openly resumes its war crimes in Gaza - blocking humanitarian aid - with the tacit support of the international mainstream media. Lead contributors: Daniel Levy – President, US/Middle East Project Saree Makdisi – Professor of English and comparative literature, UCLA Samira Mohyeddin – Founder, On the Line Media Mouin Rabbani – Co-editor, Jadaliyya O
Israel’s genocide is expanding into the West Bank | The Listening Post
With international media’s attention on the captive exchange, the Israeli military and settlers are forcibly displacing tens of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank. Meanwhile, Israeli journalists are parroting military talking points of security operations. Contributors: Abdaljawad Omar - Assistant professor, Birzeit University Jehad Abusalim - Co-editor, Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fir
Germany: Will the far right beat the ‘firewall’?
The far-right AfD threatens to breach the political "firewall" that has long kept it out of power, as election disinformation from both the US and Russia disrupts the German media’s election coverage. Contributors: Olaf Böhnke - Berlin director, Alliance of Democracies Foundation Ulrich Brückner - Political analyst Michaela Küfner - Chief political editor, DW On our radar: This week, US President
Control through chaos: How Trump is playing the media | The Listening Post
It’s an alarming moment in US politics. Developments have been fast and furious, with Donald Trump flooding the news space at a rate journalists find hard to handle. His plan for an American takeover of the Gaza Strip, the reshaping of federal agencies and the unchecked power handed to Musk all beg a question: Who is really running the country? Contributors: Danielle Moodie – Host, The Danielle Mo
A historic spectacle: The return to north Gaza
The return of more than half a million displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza, having survived war, siege and starvation, is a historic moment. For right-wing media outlets in Israel, however, it's a humiliation. Contributors: Abdullah Al-Arian – Associate Professor, Georgetown University in Qatar Jehad Abusalim – Executive Director, Institute for Palestine Studies Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man – Di
Sudan: A savage war and toxic information battle
A year into the civil war in Sudan, the humanitarian costs have been staggering - but the news coverage has been minimal.A conflict on this scale should top the news agenda but it has been relegated to the back pages – in part – because of what is happening in Gaza and Ukraine. And it is increasingly difficult to deny that the lack of media interest in this war comes down to where it is being foug
Genocide in Gaza: Enabled by AI, powered by Big Tech
The algorithms that Big Tech designed - and the genocide they assisted. The Listening Post explores how Israel’s killing campaign of Palestinians has relied on artificial intelligence to choose its targets. A dystopian nightmare serves as a marketing campaign for technology flawed by design, and deepens the global digital divide.Contributors:Sophia Goodfriend – Researcher, Duke UniversityMona Shta
Myth/Miracle: Dissecting the Modi government’s claims
It is election season in India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems set to win a third successive term in the national elections — for good reason, say his supporters. They claim 10 years of the Modi government have transformed India, from lifting millions out of poverty to elevating India’s global status, but his critics say Modi’s record is far from perfect.In this episode of The India Report,
Reporting under genocide: Six months in Gaza
With international reporters locked out, Palestinian journalists have made huge sacrifices to keep the world informed of the unprecedented killing and destruction in Gaza.More media workers have been killed by Israel since October 7 than in any other conflict in modern history.Like the rest of the population, Gaza's journalists have also been maimed, arrested or threatened, have seen their homes a
The cracks are deepening in the US-Israel alliance
Six months into Israel’s devastating war on Gaza, the United Nations Security Council has finally passed a resolution demanding a ceasefire. The United States’s abstention marks a pivotal moment in Israel’s increasing international isolation.In the Israeli media, the opposition to the UN vote is near-unanimous and unsurprising. More striking is the lack of interest from American news outlets. The
India's elections are coming up...are the media up to the task? | The India Report
With India amid a national election campaign, its news media is in sharp focus. Until recently it was believed that the sheer diversity of outlets ensured a range of perspectives, but now, India’s mainstream media has largely been co-opted by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Just how did the media in India get to this point and what does it mean for the upcoming electio
Dissecting the 'TikTok problem'
The threat to ban TikTok in the United States has prompted an online backlash. Critics question the premise that Chinese ownership poses a security risk and suggest the real reason may be the surge in pro-Palestinian content since October 7.Contributors:Julia Angwin - Tech Policy Writer, New York Times; Founder, Proof NewsRussel Brandom - Tech Editor, Rest Of The WorldMarwa Fatafta - MENA Policy a
The crackdown on India’s political opposition
Elections are weeks away in India and opposition parties are attempting to take on the seemingly unstoppable juggernaut of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is seeking a third consecutive term.The opposition claims that Modi’s success rate has very little to do with his governance – but more because scores of his political rivals have been arrested or charged on questionable grounds. They say it h
Ramadan repression in the West Bank
With the global media’s attention trained on Gaza since October 7, things have worsened for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, and near impossible for journalists to cover.With their movement severely restricted, dozens of Palestinian journalists have been arrested, often held without trial or charge.Contributors:Anan Quzmar - JournalistAssal Rad - Middle East Scholar and AuthorMariam Barghou
How India came to embrace the politics of Hindutva
The politics of Hindu nationalism have played a central role in the dramatic rise of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As the elections have neared, the Modi regime has turbocharged its Hindu-first agenda - best exemplified in the inauguration of the Ram Temple in the city of Ayodhya.Veteran journalist Sreenivasan Jain explains how the opening of this temple - and the whitewashing of its c
The airdrops: Optics of urgency, illusions of aid
The United States' airdrops of aid into Gaza are a textbook case of cognitive dissonance on the part of the US administration - dropping food while continuing to send Israel bombs with which to pulverise Gaza. And the gulf between what’s happening on the ground and the mainstream media’s reportage continues to widen.Contributors:Laura Albast - Fellow, Institute for Palestine StudiesMohamad Bazzi -
Is the New York Times losing its credibility on Israel-Palestine? | The Listening Post
In December 2023, The New York Times published an explosive article - now widely discredited - that detailed Hamas’s agenda to weaponise rape and sexual violence on October 7. We reveal the controversies surrounding the article along with the broader issue of Western media outlets’ pro-Israeli/anti-Palestinian bias.Lead contributors:Ali Abunimah - Director, Electronic IntifadaChris Hedges - Former
Media heroes and traitors - Assange vs Navalny
With Alexey Navalny’s death and Julian Assange’s extradition appeal happening within a week of each other, we look at the selective treatment of the two dissenters in the Western media.Lead contributors:Chip Gibbons - Policy Director, Defending Rights & DissentMatt Kennard - Chief Investigator, Declassified UKBranko Marcetic - Writer, JacobinRebecca Vincent - Director of Campaigns, Reporters Witho
Is media coverage reflecting the horror in Rafah?
More than a million Palestinians have been crammed into the city of Rafah - which is being bombed by Israel with the imminent threat of a ground invasion. Western media, however, has once again failed to communicate the severity of this moment.Contributors:Laura Albast - Media Analyst, Institute for Palestine Studies-USANabih Bulos - Middle East Bureau Chief, LA TimesAdel Iskandar - Professor of
Pakistan Elections: Did Imran Khan stand a chance?
This past week’s elections in Pakistan were meant to be a formality, the outcome - a win for the PMLN - predetermined by the Pakistani military and intelligence apparatus.But despite their attempt to manage the narrative and meddle with politics, former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his party, the PTI, had an unexpected pull with the people.Contributors:Amber Shamsi - Director, Centre for Excellen
Israel vs UNRWA: Deflection and deception
Israeli intelligence accuses a UN refugee agency of collusion with Hamas – and the media take it at face value.Israel has for years been claiming that the United Nations refugee agency (UNRWA) is in cahoots with Hamas. The latest allegations – which coincided with the International Court of Justice’s order for Israel to prevent genocide – bear the hallmarks of a distraction tactic. So far, the med
How Israel is responding to the ICJ ruling
Part 1: What does the ICJ ruling mean for Israel?Judgement day at the International Court of Justice. The court has ruled the people of Gaza must be protected from genocidal acts carried out by Israel.Richard Gizbert is joined by producer Tariq Nafi to discuss the impact this ruling could have on how the media discuss the war in Gaza.Part 2: Mohammed el-Kurd on Palestinian resistanceWriter and jou
War on Gaza: What impact will the ICJ case have?
The ICJ hearings have drawn scorn as well as shock from Israel’s media punditry. In the West, however, the case has emboldened journalists to ask tougher questions of the Israeli narrative.Lead contributors:Oren Ziv - Reporter, +972 MagazineMouin Rabbani - Co-editor, JadaliyyaSelma Carmey - Human rights lawyerGideon Levy - Columnist, HaaretzDaniel Levy - President, US/Middle East Project; Former I
