The New York Times and The Intercept on Palestinian Lives

Apr 4, 2024, The Daily

26:15 Kim Severson, a food correspondent for The New York Times:
I’m curious how you think about the speed with which Israel came out and said it was in the wrong here because as you said that’s not how Israel typically reacts to many of these situations and that makes me think that it might have something to do with the nature of the aid group that was the target of these air strikes the world Central Kitchen and its story.

26:46 Adam Rasgon, an Israel correspondent for The New York Times:
I think it does have to do with this particular group. This is a group that’s led by a celebrity chef, very high-profile, who has gone run around the world to conflict zones disaster areas to provide food Aid, and I also think it has to do with the people who were killed, most of whom were Western foreign aid workers. Frankly I don’t think we would be having this conversation if a group of Palestinian Aid workers had been killed.

27:23 Severson:
Nor perhaps would you be having the reaction that we have had so far from the Israeli government.

27:28 Rasgon:
I would agree with that.

The Intercept commented on the comments:

“In a New York Times podcast episode yesterday about Israel’s killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, an Israel correspondent made this stunning admission about how little the paper values Palestinian lives:
‘Frankly, I don’t think we would be having this conversation if a group of Palestinian aid workers had been killed.’

For months, The Intercept has documented how Palestinian lives are routinely devalued in major U.S. news outlets. Nevertheless, it was chilling to hear two Times journalists in a heavily produced and edited piece flatly state that Palestinian deaths aren’t newsworthy.”