It is disheartening to see that, as journalists, we are losing both our inquisitiveness and our capacity for critical thinking. Instead, our work is increasingly tilting towards relaying and amplifying pre-processed information— much like the growing fascination with processed foods. Laziness may be partly responsible for this habit. Cooking requires thought, preparation, and labour; processed food, by contrast, sits on shelves or in freezers waiting to be consumed with minimal effort. Lazy journalism is just as convenient: communication experts package information that advances their employers' political or commercial interests and deliver it to journalists—often to familiar faces— through digital communication or courtesy visits. Professional training and ethics require journalists to examine such processed content critically, rigorously analyse it, ask pertinent questions, verify both current and historical facts, and then reprocess the information for publication or bro...
As a former BBC journalist, it is excruciating to watch heads roll over a lapse in editorial standards at one of the great British institutions that thrived for 103 years. What is even more shocking is that the BBC’s persistent bias towards Israel during the Gaza war—including its repeated suppression of genocide allegations—never triggered resignations. Yet a single edited speech by a U.S. president, unnoticed by him or his supporters for more than a year, has forced out not one but two of the corporation’s most senior executives. A comprehensive review by the Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM) of the BBC’s coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza found that presenters amplified Israeli perspectives 2,340 times, compared with only 217 Palestinian viewpoints—a stark imbalance. Editorial failures undoubtedly are reprehensible, but when politics and other interests come into play along, it becomes an existential question. Ironically, the Trump edit was first uncovered by the BBC’s ow...