Zecharias Zelalem

The last photo of Mikaeil Mirdoraghi, a third-grade student killed in the reported U.S./Israeli strike on a primary school in Minab, Iran.

He is waving goodbye to his mother.

Rest easy Mikaeil.

Today the Israelis ordered the evacuation of the southern suburbs of Beirut. This included a couple Palestinian refugee camps. People who were displaced during the Nakba or in 67, settled in Beirut and now their grand/great grandchildren are once again displaced.

It seems at least some of the journos were reeled in by the excitement of a potential career defining scoop, and made errors in judgement as the race to make a deadline approached. The authors in the New Lines story make a great effort to outline what could have been done better. Amazing read.

Inside the Damascus Dossier: From leaked images to verified data - ICIJ ICIJ and its partners organized and analyzed thousands of chilling photographs to assemble comprehensive victim lists and quantify the human toll behind a sensitive data leak.

The Damascus Dossier investigation involved dozens of journalists from at least 20 media outlets, led by German broadcaster NDR. The stories went live in December. The @newlinesmag.bsky.social story outlines shocking behaviour by some journalists, and poor coordination between outlets.

This is a introspectional must read especially for journos. It dissects how a series of investigative stories on a trove of leaked docs containing data & gruesome photos of Syria's forcibly disappeared, ended up retraumatizing families.

Critical reflection on the duty to inform, & minimizing harm.

abhorrent.

Corporate Media Buries Story of US and Israel Killing 168 in Girls School Attack No front-page stories in NYT, WSJ, WaPo. No mention on NBC and CBS Sunday Shows. No stand alone segments on Evening News shows. A death count on par with the OKC bombing is relegated to the back page.

“No front-page stories in NYT, WSJ, WaPo. No mention on NBC and CBS Sunday Shows. No stand alone segments on Evening News shows. A death count on par with the OKC bombing is relegated to the back page.” www.columnblog.com/p/corporate-...

Follow Justin, for updates and his top top Al Jazeera coverage from Beirut, as Lebanon endures the umpteenth Israeli bombing campaign of the country in barely three years. The frequency of IDF airstrikes in Lebanon swings up & down, but airstrikes never completely stopped despite the 2024 ceasefire.

Wtf. Is it this specific aid kitchen that had its WU and Whish accounts blocked or is this something implemented Beirut/Lebanon wide? Imagine blocking aid orgs from accessing money at this of all times!

I really do feel for Iranians, coming from a region that is harmed by both the "anti imperialist left" and the right. The former teams up with our genocidal governments as long as they say they're against the US, the latter wants us bombed into oblivion and prevented from immigrating.

Woke up to a dozen messages of friends in Beirut saying Israel bombed

The Tasnim and Fars news agencies are confirming the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

🔴 LIVE updates: aje.news/9i4fmn

This took months of consuming radio, TV and print content produced from Israel by media outlets from South Africa, Ethiopia and Kenya. In Kenya and South Africa, the robust press community ensured results wouldn't be successful. Ashamed to say this wasn't the case in Ethiopia.

YouTube video by Al Jazeera English African journalists on a trip to Israel - and the coverage that resulted | The Listening Post

If you missed it when it aired on the weekend, this is my TV production debut, for @aljazeera.com's The Listening Post.

We investigated Israeli gov efforts to whitewash genocide in Gaza for African audiences, using journalists & Christian influencers.

Fellow "journos" were held to account.

I want there to be, because only so much can be shared with an audience in a 10 minute segment. Working on it!

Oops...that's 19h00 GMT. My bad.

It is replicating the CGTN model in too many African states now: broadcasting models that focus solely on development and only addresses human rights violations if they can be linked to western elements.

thanks bro. It had to be, imagine pitching this elsewhere! 😉

Tomorrow, we focus on these trips to Israel and hold African journalists, responsible for downplaying the suffering of Palestinians, to account.

Also...the show also features the queen herself... Dr. @timnitgebru.bsky.social.

Tune in tomorrow, 19h00 on @aljazeera.com.

Cheers,
-ZZ.

All in all...the continent's biggest weakness is the fact that most of our countries are dictatorships. Too many African states have no press culture that would resist efforts by not only Israel, but China and Russia to sell us questionable narratives that violate humanitarian ethics.

Israeli authorities appears to be carefully studying the results, country by country, to determine what sort of group would work best in each country. For instance, after Moroccan journalists lashed out at colleagues who went to Israel, this year, Israel flew out a Moroccan cultural troupe instead.

Journos from Ethiopia have been the most "effective." They have produced some of the most biased, one dimensional coverage that has dehumanized Palestinians & portrayed Israel's genocide as self defense. Coverage also highlighted Israel's role in tech, agriculture polishing the country's reputation.

The trips have had mixed results: they led to backlash in Morocco and Kenya. So Israel has had to be selective: it has chosen journalists primarily from authoritarian countries with no press freedoms. In Kenya, which has a robust media culture, it chose gospel music singers & influencers.

Since 2024, Israel has been quietly flying delegations of journalists, influencers, politicians and others to Israel from different African states. The carefully curated trips take travelers to tourist sites, the Knesset & Oct 7 attack sites.

Nothing that spotlights pesky Palestinians of course.

The Listening Post | Video | Al Jazeera A weekly programme that examines and dissects the world’s media, how they operate and the stories they cover.

THREAD: A first for me: I've co-produced an episode of Al Jazeera's The Listening Post, and it airs tomorrow!

Outrage over genocide in Gaza has led to Israel losing the streets & the campuses of the western world.

So, Israel has recently decided to try selling its narrative...to Africans.

wow.

I cover the Horn. Reporting on 🇵🇸🇮🇱 is generally not part of my mandate.

But the beats have aligned. Six months of work later, this weekend I'll have an investigation go live & it addresses Israel's genocide in Gaza and the African continent.

Coming to @aljazeera.com, hope you'll tune in.

🇰🇪🇿🇦🇪🇹

This is *so* important.

Even the folks who run Bsky need to hear this over and over!