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The ugly truth about Gaza reporting that most media choose to ignore

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Post Editorial Board. (2026, September 22). The ugly truth about Gaza reporting that most media choose to ignore. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/09/22/opinion/the-ugly-truth-about-gaza-reporting-that-most-media-ignore/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-09-22 · by Post Editorial Board

Quick Summary

An interview with Palestinian journalist Motaz Azaiza reveals censorship and manipulation in Gaza's media environment. Azaiza admits to suppressing videos of war crimes against Israeli hostages and complying with directives from Hamas-aligned groups, which punish dissenting voices through disappearance or death. He also highlights the ease of travel and improvements in living standards before the October 2023 conflict, challenging claims of an Israeli siege on Gaza prior to that date. The article critiques Western media for portraying sources like Azaiza as credible despite evidence of biased reporting.
Written by AI on 2026-09-22, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Motaz Azaiza, an acclaimed Palestinian journalist who has received honors like being named to the Time 100 list and GQ’s Middle East Man of the Year, admitted in a podcast interview that he suppressed footage showing Israeli hostages beaten by Palestinians during Hamas's control over Gaza on October 7, 2023. Azaiza explained that he chose not to publish the videos out of fear for the lives of those captured on film, believing Israel might target them. He also revealed that all media in Gaza is controlled through a single WhatsApp group run by Hamas, and journalists face severe repercussions if they defy the terror group’s directives. This admission highlights how reports from Gaza may have been influenced or censored to align with Hamas's narrative over nearly two decades.

Written for “Gaza Reporting Bias” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Gaza Reporting Bias
Politics · 4 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly right and hedges 8% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 3 of 30 claims Outlet record 66/100
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 1 of 15 claims Outlet record 70/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of media coverage and reporting on Israel and Gaza, but do not describe the same specific incident or occurrence.”
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 0 of 39 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different events, with Article A focusing on the reaction to a documentary at the Venice film festival and Article B discussing an interview with a journalist.”
Al Jazeera
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 6 of 72 claims Outlet record 60/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of reporting on Gaza; Article A focuses on journalists using social media to document events, while Article B centers around an interview with a Palestinian journalist revealing truths about reporting.”
New York Post
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 0 of 28 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 0 of 28 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different subjects: one focuses on an interview with a Palestinian journalist revealing truths about Gaza reporting, while the other announces the release of an Israeli documentary film.”
Al Jazeera
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 1 of 17 claims Outlet record 60/100
“The articles discuss different events: one is about an interview with a Palestinian journalist, while the other is Al Jazeera's response to Netanyahu's criticism at the UN.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 2 of 89 claims Outlet record 61/100
“The articles describe different journalists and their experiences, not the same specific incident.”
Zeteo
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 1 of 5 claims
“The articles describe different aspects of the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the West Bank rather than a single specific incident.”
The Dispatch
Hedges 0 of 4 claims Outlet record 61/100
“The articles discuss different topics and focus on separate issues related to media coverage, without describing the same specific incident.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
26
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
8%
2 of 26 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
4
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-22 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 15824 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Post Editorial Board
118 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 — Barack Obama, Saturday We say: Will Obama never stop glazing the “Death to America” crew?
🔮 Nick LaLota and Andrew Garbarino of the 1st and 2nd districts, covering Suffolk and a slice of Nassau, are solid moderates with a proven willingness to work across the aisle without sacrificing their commitment to core values of lower taxes and limited government.
🔮 Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud Party are the winners in the Israeli election — though their coalition will likely fall short of a majority, so Israel will probably head to fresh elections in a few months.
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Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
Also by Post Editorial Board
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 118 articles by Post Editorial Board →

Topics

Gaza Hamas Israel Israeli Palestinian

Subjects

Hamas ORG · 13× Gaza GPE · 7× Azaiza PERSON · 4× Israel GPE · 4× Fatah ORG · 2× Israeli NORP · 2× Palestinian NORP · 2× CBS ORG · 1× CNN ORG · 1× Motaz Azaiza PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Azaiza has been feted by topline news outlets from CNN to CBS to The Guardian, named GQ’s 2023 Middle East Man of the Year, and cheered by the likes of YouTube sensation Ms. Rachel, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.). But in an hours-long taped interview, he’s now opted to tell truths he’d been hiding.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-22
🔮 Azaiza has been feted by topline news outlets from CNN to CBS to The Guardian, named GQ’s 2023 Middle East Man of the Year, and cheered by the likes of YouTube sensation Ms. Rachel, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.). But in an hours-long taped interview, he’s now opted to tell truths he’d been hiding.
2026-09-22 · New York Post
The ugly truth about Gaza reporting that most media choose to ignore · assertive framing

Claims (26 extracted, 2 hedged)

A bombshell interview with acclaimed Palestinian journalist Motaz Azaiza shows why you can’t trust almost any reporting on Hamas, Israel’s war in Gaza, or the basic facts of life under the terror group. asserted
you → show → group
Azaiza has been feted by topline news outlets from CNN to CBS to The Guardian, named GQ’s 2023 Middle East Man of the Year, and cheered by the likes of YouTube sensation Ms. Rachel, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.). But in an hours-long taped interview, he’s now opted to tell truths he’d been hiding. asserted
he → fete → truths
He admits that he suppressed videos of Palestinian war crimes against Israeli hostages: During Hamas’ triumphal march of its kidnapees, “people got out, watched, beat them, hit them, and I followed them and filmed. asserted
I → admit → them
But I did not publish those videos.” asserted
I → publish → videos
He met with then-Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh but asked that all evidence of it be deleted. asserted
evidence → meet → it
More, he confirms that a Hamas-aligned groupchat more or less gives marching orders to every journalist in Gaza — who obey, or else. asserted
who → confirm → Gaza
Hardly far-fetched: al-Jazeera (no friend of Israel) reportedly fired two dozen of its own “journalists” over alleged ties to Hamas and rival Islamist terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad. uncertain
Jazeera → fetch → Hamas
Above all, Azaiza admits the rigid censorship of all speech and images coming out of Gaza. asserted
Azaiza → admit → Gaza
“When I was filming and documenting the events, I wasn’t focused on how angry people were toward Hamas and its government,” he pleads. asserted
he → film → Hamas
“When someone gets out of the ambulance and says ‘May God punish Hamas’ while I’m filming, the people around him turn the camera away”; if what someone says to the press “does not align” with Hamas, the speaker will “disappear behind the sun.” Indeed, Uday al-Ruba’i “was killed during the war by Hamas simply because of opinion on Facebook.” uncertain
Ruba’i → get → Facebook
Azaiza even asks: “So how many were killed in Gaza by Hamas? asserted
many → ask → Hamas
And why don’t we hear their names in the West Bank? asserted
we → hear → Bank
And nobody moved.” asserted
nobody → move → ?
He also blows up the lie of an “Israeli siege” of Gaza pre-Oct. 7, noting: “The last two years, it wasn’t really a siege. asserted
it → blow → Gaza
Something eased. asserted
Something → ease → ?
The country’s standard improved. asserted
standard → improve → ?
A lot of new projects opened. asserted
lot → open → projects
Travel got easier. asserted
Travel → get → ?
Instead of paying $1,500 or $2,000 for coordination, you’d pay $200.” asserted
you → pay → 200
More than a decade ago, former AP reporter and editor Matti Friedman revealed how biased the agency’s Israel coverage was; Hamas’ savage approach to media relations was an open secret to anyone in the global or US press who bothered to look into it. asserted
who → reveal → it
But they kept pretending that sources like Azaiza were not just credible, but heroic. asserted
sources → keep → Azaiza
They insist Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, when by any definition of the term it has not. asserted
it → insist → term
Just last week, The New York Times condescendingly reported, “Israelis still largely view themselves as the victims of Oct. 7” — and then tried to explain it away as an “editing error.” asserted
Israelis → report → error
This, scant months after Nicolas Kristof’s deranged libel that the IDF used dogs to rape Palestinians — a column relying heavily, it should be noted, on a Hamas-linked NGO. asserted
it → use → NGO
So expect this interview to fall into a great void in the very circles that had embraced Azaiaza when he was a propagandist-by-proxy. asserted
he → expect → proxy
This crowd wants to eat up Hamas’ propaganda — and only grew more eager to disseminate it after Oct. 7, because it doesn’t care about truth or the people of Gaza: It’s all about hating on Israel. asserted
It → want → Israel
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