A leaked recording of a recent meeting obtained by The Intercept, demonstrates an uproar by CNN staff, including renowned international news anchor Christiane Amanpour, who called out network executives for failings in covering the war on Gaza. 

At CNN’s London Bureau on February 13, a panel of executives was under questioning for the network's protocols for covering the war, namely the presence of a hostile environment for Arab reporters.

According to The Intercept, back in January, the protocol, through which CNN's news on Gaza are first sent to their bureau in occupied "Al-Quds" before publishing, has been expanded and rebranded as SecondEyes. The protocol filters reporting about the war through journalists in Al-Quds who operate under the "Israel’s" military censor.

Amanpour told the panel, “You’ve heard from me, you’ve heard my, you know, real distress with SecondEyes — changing copy, double standards, and all the rest,” adding, “So you’ve heard it, and I hear what your response is and I hope it does go a long way.”

Another journalist in the recording chimed in by saying, “I was in southern Lebanon during October and November... And it was more distressing for me to turn on CNN, than the bombs falling nearby.”

This is how 'Israel' gets to push through its narrative into #Western media.#CNN revealed that in its journey to report news of the ongoing events in #Gaza, the IOF forced it to submit all material and footage taken by its journalists for review before publication, a condition… pic.twitter.com/WVkZwoUtPM

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) November 6, 2023

The journalist continued: “I find that my colleagues, my family, are platforming people over and over again, that are either calling for my death, or using very dehumanizing language against me … and people that look like me. And obviously, this has a huge impact in our credibility in the region.”

Read next: How language used in American media facilitates genocide

CNN blames it on lack of access to Gaza

CNN Worldwide CEO and Editor-in-Chief Mark Thompson responded by claiming that the network has been better at admitting mistakes and getting them corrected. Upon being asked by the staffer of concerns over dehumanization, Thompson replied by claiming that gaps in coverage are a fault of limited access to Gaza.

“I think the fact that it’s been very difficult for us until relatively recently, and even today, to get fully on the ground inside Gaza, has made it hard for us to deliver the kind of individualized personal stories of what it’s been like for the people of Gaza, in the way it has been more possible for us with the story of the families of those murdered and kidnapped by Hamas in the original Hamas attack on Israel,” the executive said. 

It is noteworthy that Thompson has been criticized over the years for his pro-"Israel" stance in news reporting and coverage, not just in CNN but in other media as well such as the BBC during his time as Director-General.

Some CNN journalists offer different explanations for the network's biased editorial policies.

According to some, the issue stems from years of pressure exerted by "Israel" and its #US ally, coupled with "a fear of losing advertising."

One staff member stated, "The majority of… pic.twitter.com/N5JS6A0Jxw

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) February 7, 2024

Amanpour, a veteran war reporter, clapped back by suggesting "to send experts to these unbelievably difficult, contentious, you know, game-changing stories”.

She argued: “It isn’t a place, with due respect, to send people who we want to promote or whatever, or teach. Maybe in the second wave, maybe in the third wave — but in the first wave, it has to be the people who know, through experience, what they’re seeing, and how to speak truth to power on all sides. And how to recognize the difference between political or whatever or terrorist attack, and the humanity, and to be able to put all of that into reporting.”

“For me, video is not a talking head on a balcony in a capital... It just isn’t. To me, video is reportage.”

Letter by over 750 journalists condemns Western coverage of 'Israel'

Back in November, over 750 journalists from multiple news organizations signed a letter condemning "Israel's" killing of journalists in Gaza and criticizing Western media’s coverage of the war.
 
The letter, which said newsrooms are "accountable for dehumanizing rhetoric that has served to justify ethnic cleansing of Palestinians", includes journalists from Reuters, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, and The Washington Post.
  
Some reporters have even been fired and let go from their positions for exposing bias within newsrooms.

Abdallah Fayyad, a 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist and former editorial board member at the Boston Globe, who signed the letter, said, “My hope for this letter is to push back on the culture of fear around this issue," adding, "and to make decision-makers and reporters and editors think twice about the language that they use."