The New York Times was busted doing New York Times things again.
The Times ran a long story about starving and malnutrition in Gaza that clearly had a preferred narrative in mind. Now that the original story has made its way around the world, more context can be provided via an editor's note:
We have appended an Editors' Note to a story about Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, a child in Gaza who was diagnosed with severe malnutrition. After publication, The Times learned that he also had pre-existing health problems. Read more below. pic.twitter.com/KGxP3b3Q2B
— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) July 29, 2025
This appears at the bottom of the long story:
Editors’ Note: July 29, 2025
This article has been updated to include information about Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, a child in Gaza suffering from severe malnutrition. After publication of the article, The Times learned from his doctor that Mohammed also had pre-existing health problems.
"After publishing the story we decided to find out if there's more information that maybe should have been included in the report" is not an unexpected thing for modern "journalism."
The @nytimes admits the emaciated boy they splashed on their front page as ‘proof’ of famine in Gaza was actually suffering from a serious medical condition – which is why his family all look healthy.
— Jaime Kirzner-Roberts (@jaimekr) July 29, 2025
Exploiting a child’s illness to push a political narrative is reprehensible. https://t.co/U9GR8wGAwe pic.twitter.com/wzDLQx86xx
They don't even acknowledge it as a correction -- just an "editor's note" put out by the Times' PR account.
Weak tea. The Times made a glaring mistake and can't admit that without praising itself for bravery, sensitivity and personal risk. https://t.co/UskI5F5fJE
— Brit Hume (@brithume) July 30, 2025
"Here's how we mislead you at great personal risk to our reporters..."
I append this: You were hoodwinked and provided blood libel propaganda. You are beneath contempt for your refusal to apologize. https://t.co/69KAGAHDKH
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) July 29, 2025
All the propaganda that's fit to print!
For a whole day everyone on X mocked the NYT for this enormous “error.”
— Max Abrahms (@MaxAbrahms) July 29, 2025
Beyond the question of how such idiocy could ever happen is why it took so long to correct.
I think I see the problem here.
— Snarknado ⚓️ 🇺🇸 (@ZannSuz) July 30, 2025
You’re supposed to verify these little details before publishing.
Hope this helps.
Meanwhile, Bethany Mandel and Karol Markowicz noticed that the Times should also have to explain something else:
Why did you crop his healthy brother out of the photo
— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) July 29, 2025
The Times would like it to sound as if it was just a minor journalistic oversight, but it looks like things that were inconvenient to the story they wanted to tell were just kept away:
Mohammed’s healthy brother was also cropped out of the picture. This should be published on the front page of the paper, not some side X account. If you fell for this hoax, check yourself. https://t.co/D1J0o2TZqE
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) July 30, 2025
The legacy media continue to serve up example after example of why trust in their profession has gone completely down the drain.