# IDF's alleged recording of Islamic Jihad, and questions of journalistic integrity and trust **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** israel-hamas-war\ **Created:** [October 18, 2023, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857 "2023-10-18T17:50:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857/41 "2023-10-19T20:19:00Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > I guess that’s where we differ then. I consider Andrea Mitchell to be an impeccable journalist with great integrity and judgment. Sure. That doesn’t mean the people she talks with know what they are talking about or don’t have their own agenda. “Arab journalist” is not the same as saying expert. Ok I presume they speak Arabic. That covers a large part of the world. Are they from Qatar, Kuwait, Algeria? Each region has its own syntax and slang. Are they experts on how people talk in Gaza? Have they been to Gaza? We don’t know. They are anonymous. Al Jazeera has seemed to back off from its headlines calling it an Israeli air raid but it’s still giving at least equal strength to the Palestinian propaganda that Israel did it. That’s despite the fact the video showing clearly what happened was shown on Al Jazeera when it happened. Are those the Arabic journalists? ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857/42 "2023-10-19T20:49:47Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Sure. That doesn’t mean the people she talks with know what they are talking about or don’t have their own agenda. “Arab journalist” is not the same as saying expert. Ok I presume they speak Arabic. That covers a large part of the world. Are they from Qatar, Kuwait, Algeria? Each region has its own syntax and slang. Are they experts on how people talk in Gaza? Have they been to Gaza? We don’t know. They are anonymous. But that’s precisely the point I am making. I believe that Andrea Mitchell is a first-rate journalist and that her ability, experience and integrity is such that she would speak to Arab journalists that knew what they were talking about and didn’t have their own agenda. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857/43 "2023-10-19T21:01:05Z")
Journalists cite anonymous sources in their investigations all the time. Probably most articles one reads have “an anonymous source told us”, “speaking off the record, an unnamed official told us”. It’s standard practice in journalism, and doesn’t normally elicit such demands for sources to be named or such doubts about the faithfulness of what the sources are saying as the scrutiny these two Arab journalists are being subjected to in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857/44 "2023-10-20T05:34:43Z")
> [@Discussion thread for the Hamas Attacks Israel thread, October 2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-hamas-attacks-israel-thread-october-2023/991317/430): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > Sure. That doesn’t mean the people she talks with know what they are talking about or don’t have their own agenda. “Arab journalist” is not the same as saying expert. Ok I presume they speak Arabic. That covers a large part of the world. Are they from Qatar, Kuwait, Algeria? Each region has its own syntax and slang. Are they experts on how people talk in Gaza? Have they been to Gaza? We don’t know. They are anonymous. > > But that’s precisely the point I am making. I believe that Andrea Mitchell is a first-rate journalist and that her ability, experience and integrity is such that she would speak to Arab journalists that knew what they were talking about and didn’t have their own agenda. And you know her (or the actual journalist) ability to gauge someone’s language skill? I have no reason to doubt the report. Someone said it didn’t sound right. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857/45 "2023-10-20T10:13:59Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > And you know her (or the actual journalist) ability to gauge someone’s language skill? I have no reason to doubt the report. Someone said it didn’t sound right. What? Are you saying that if a non-English speaker asked you to listen to an audio recording in which the speakers were speaking in English you wouldn’t be able to provide them with any insight into “language, accent, dialect, syntax and tone”? That you wouldn’t be able to tell if the words used didn’t make sense or were arranged in a way that didn’t form sentences? You wouldn’t be able to tell the difference a between the accent of one English-speaking nation from another or a regional American accent? That if, say, a couple of Frenchmen made a recording pretending to be Texans the average American wouldn’t be able to tell? That makes no logical sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857/46 "2023-10-20T10:58:54Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > Are you saying that if a non-English speaker asked you to listen to an audio recording in which the speakers were speaking in English you wouldn’t be able to provide them with any insight into “language, accent, dialect, syntax and tone”? > > That you wouldn’t be able to tell if the words used didn’t make sense or were arranged in a way that didn’t form sentences? You wouldn’t be able to tell the difference a between the accent of one English-speaking nation from another or a regional American accent? That if, say, a couple of Frenchmen made a recording pretending to be Texans the average American wouldn’t be able to tell? I don’t know how familiar you are with various conspiracy theories. I got my first exposure in the mid-nineties, with the David Khoresh fiasco. Afterwards, a friend of mine showed me a video that demonstrated all the obvious problems with the FBI story, with the strong implication that the FBI had deliberately set the compound on fire. Only all the “obvious” problems weren’t obvious at all to me. What was obvious is that the documentarian desperately wanted to blame the FBI, so they interpreted every bit of evidence in the manner most devastating for the FBI, no matter how strained that interpretation. I learned from that experience a deep skepticism of folks who desperately want a certain conclusion to be true. Which is why, in this case, I really don’t feel able to reach a clear conclusion: I don’t know any experts who aren’t strongly biased toward one conclusion or another. They may be out there, but I don’t know who they are. Two unnamed Arab journalists? Are they sober and impartial observers, or do they desperately want this to be an IDF massacre rather than a misfired rocket? ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857/47 "2023-10-20T11:12:21Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Afterwards, a friend of mine showed me a video that demonstrated all the obvious problems with the FBI story, with the strong implication that the FBI had deliberately set the compound on fire. Was your friend who showed you the video a well-respected journalist from a well-respected news outlet? Also, was the video itself made by a journalist? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857/48 "2023-10-20T12:25:11Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > Was your friend who showed you the video a well-respected journalist from a well-respected news outlet? Also, was the video itself made by a journalist? These are differences. Also, they were on different continents, and different decades. The relevant bits–the similarities–are that the ones I mentioned in my post, and are the reasons I’m holding out judgment. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857/49 "2023-10-20T13:13:35Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > These are differences. Well, they are absolutely fundamental differences. It’s the equivalent of taking medical advice from a qualified doctor rather than some rando who has no medical training. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857/50 "2023-10-20T13:38:29Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > Well, they are absolutely fundamental differences. It’s the equivalent of taking medical advice from a qualified doctor rather than some rando who has no medical training. I’m honestly not clear what you’re arguing at this point. How credible do you find the alleged recording at this point? I’m saying that the jury’s out. Are you confident that it’s a fake? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857/51 "2023-10-20T13:43:26Z")
I love Al Jazeera. I read their news alerts daily. They employ lots of excellent journalists. But they also hate Israel. They write with a strong anti-Israel bias. Might a couple of Al Jazeera journalists hear problems that a less biased witness didn’t hear? Yeah, i think that’s likely enough that there’s some doubt. Might the IDF have faked that recording? Absolutely. I basically think that recording has no real value, either way. The Google images on the other hand, seem convincing. The small size of the blast chamber is uncontested. Even Al Jazeera has walked back their initial claim, and now seems to be suggesting that an Israeli missile might have gone off in the air, or maybe an iron dome missile intercepted something in the air, and that somehow triggered the damage. Their article ends by saying “we haven’t yet recovered the debris that would indicate what kind of missile it was”. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857/52 "2023-10-20T13:47:18Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > Was your friend who showed you the video a well-respected journalist from a well-respected news outlet? You mean, like all the newspapers and other media outlets that, out of a deep concern for journalistic integrity, resisted the urge to title their articles “Israel kills 500”? Those are the journalists we should trust so much? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857/53 "2023-10-20T13:49:19Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I basically think that recording has no real value, either way. > > The Google images on the other hand, seem convincing. The small size of the blast chamber is uncontested. Even Al Jazeera has walked back their initial claim, and now seems to be suggesting that an Israeli missile might have gone off in the air, or maybe an iron dome missile intercepted something in the air, and that somehow triggered the damage. Their article ends by saying “we haven’t yet recovered the debris that would indicate what kind of missile it was”. This is the way I see it. The recording is just not very necessary to concluding that this wasn’t Israel. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857/54 "2023-10-20T14:09:27Z")
> [@Discussion thread for the Hamas Attacks Israel thread, October 2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-hamas-attacks-israel-thread-october-2023/991317/442): > > I’m honestly not clear what you’re arguing at this point. How credible do you find the alleged recording at this point? I’m saying that the jury’s out. Are you confident that it’s a fake? My point is that I feel the efforts in this thread to discredit the Channel 4 journalist and the two Arab journalists, as well as what they said, seem to go far beyond the normal or healthy level of skepticism that I would expect one to apply to a report from a reputable journalist from a reputable news organisation. Quite frankly, I find it extraordinary. > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > And which experts would those be? We’re supposed to believe someone on Twitter who quotes unnamed ‘experts’? > [@Discussion thread for the Hamas Attacks Israel thread, October 2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-hamas-attacks-israel-thread-october-2023/991317/380): > > They are top men. > > TOP. > > MEN. > [@Discussion thread for the Hamas Attacks Israel thread, October 2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-hamas-attacks-israel-thread-october-2023/991317/387): > > the channel 4 news presenter is identified and is not a rando. The “experts” that the channel 4 news guy is listening to are indeed “randos” until they are identified. At the moment, we don’t know if they are actual experts, or if they are just self-described “experts” who are just voicing an uninformed opinion. > > I can easily find some “experts” who will confidently tell us that the 2020 US election was stolen, and Trump is president. I can report this. Does not make it true. > [@Discussion thread for the Hamas Attacks Israel thread, October 2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-hamas-attacks-israel-thread-october-2023/991317/391): > > So Arab journalists are the experts? > [@Discussion thread for the Hamas Attacks Israel thread, October 2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-hamas-attacks-israel-thread-october-2023/991317/392): > > Two guys who said (paraphrased) “that does not sound right to me” > [@Discussion thread for the Hamas Attacks Israel thread, October 2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-hamas-attacks-israel-thread-october-2023/991317/394): > > Whereas I have no knowledge or expectation whatsoever about the competence of unidentified “Arab journalists” on Twitter who claim that the recording is an “absurd” fake. > [@Discussion thread for the Hamas Attacks Israel thread, October 2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-hamas-attacks-israel-thread-october-2023/991317/397): > > My obvious emphasis and the reason for placing “Arab journalists” in quotation marks was the fact that these sources were **unidentified**. > [@Discussion thread for the Hamas Attacks Israel thread, October 2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-hamas-attacks-israel-thread-october-2023/991317/399): > > Alex Thomson is an interesting name for an Arab. I gather he grew up speaking the same Basingstoke dialect of Arabic as Hamas? > [@Discussion thread for the Hamas Attacks Israel thread, October 2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-hamas-attacks-israel-thread-october-2023/991317/401): > > There are times when journalists need to protect confidential sources and must leave them unidentified. Why would a source who is merely commenting on the credibility of use of language need to be protected? When there is so much disinformation going around, why would a good journalist cite vague unidentified sources and expect us to take their word for it? > > I’m completely open to the idea that it’s faked, but I’m only going to listen to direct evidence from an identified native speaker of the relevant dialect, whose independence and objectivity we can judge for ourselves. > [@Discussion thread for the Hamas Attacks Israel thread, October 2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-hamas-attacks-israel-thread-october-2023/991317/405): > > The concern here is the credibility of any “independent” source A claiming that it sounds fake or any “independent” source B claiming that it sounds genuine. I will remain skeptical of both A and B unless they are identified and I can judge their expertise and objectivity for myself. > [@Discussion thread for the Hamas Attacks Israel thread, October 2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-hamas-attacks-israel-thread-october-2023/991317/415): > > A journalist says that unnamed sources cast doubt on audio just isn’t specific enough to consider. I trust he’ll be bringing those specifics in a full story, with interviews with multiple experts who go on the record to explain their conclusions; when he does so, that’s when I’ll try to figure out if the claim makes sense. > [@Discussion thread for the Hamas Attacks Israel thread, October 2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-hamas-attacks-israel-thread-october-2023/991317/416): > > Yes agreed. At the moment it’s just a journalist saying “some guys said”. We need to wait for more details before making a judgement. > [@Discussion thread for the Hamas Attacks Israel thread, October 2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-hamas-attacks-israel-thread-october-2023/991317/418): > > Not until I had some other corroborating evidence. > [@Discussion thread for the Hamas Attacks Israel thread, October 2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-hamas-attacks-israel-thread-october-2023/991317/420): > > Nor would I. But this isn’t even that level–it’s a Xeet. > > … > > But I want to hear from, say, a Palestinian linguist who’s willing to go on record. > [@Discussion thread for the Hamas Attacks Israel thread, October 2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-hamas-attacks-israel-thread-october-2023/991317/421): > > These days, the job of a journalist (especially a television journalist) is to get more clicks and more eyeballs for the network. This has led to a situation where the “need for speed” frequently overrides a more measured approach, and often can lead to stories being released too quickly before all the facts have been gathered. > > That’s just the way it is now, across all platforms and networks. > [@Discussion thread for the Hamas Attacks Israel thread, October 2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-hamas-attacks-israel-thread-october-2023/991317/429): > > Sure. That doesn’t mean the people she talks with know what they are talking about or don’t have their own agenda. “Arab journalist” is not the same as saying expert. Ok I presume they speak Arabic. That covers a large part of the world. Are they from Qatar, Kuwait, Algeria? Each region has its own syntax and slang. Are they experts on how people talk in Gaza? Have they been to Gaza? We don’t know. They are anonymous. > [@Discussion thread for the Hamas Attacks Israel thread, October 2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-hamas-attacks-israel-thread-october-2023/991317/436): > > And you know her (or the actual journalist) ability to gauge someone’s language skill? I have no reason to doubt the report. Someone said it didn’t sound right. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857/55 "2023-10-20T14:11:25Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > My point is that I feel the efforts in this thread to discredit the Channel 4 journalist and the two Arab journalists, as well as what they said, seem to go far beyond the normal or healthy level of skepticism that I would expect one to apply to a report from a reputable journalist from a reputable news organisation. Sure–I’m asking you to explain how credible _you_ find it. I know you’re unimpressed with us, but are _you_ confident that the recording is a fake? Please, by the way, don’t quote me as evidence that people are discrediting the journalist. I just don’t think it’s enough to give or withold credit, which is a subtle but important distinction. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857/56 "2023-10-20T14:14:28Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > My point is that I feel the efforts in this thread to discredit the Channel 4 journalist and the two Arab journalists, as well as what they said, seem to go far beyond the normal or healthy level of skepticism that I would expect one to apply to a report from a reputable journalist from a reputable news organisation. What level of skepticism do you consider appropriate when it comes to reports from reputable journalists working for reputable organizations? Because I saw a hell of a lot of “reputable” journalists at “reputable” news organizations loudly and often parrot the claim that “Israeli airstrike destroys hospital, kills 500”, mentioning 3 or 4 paragraphs in that the only source for the story was a Hamas spokesperson. Most of those “reputable” organizations didn’t come out and admit their mistake, they just stealthily edited their articles when it became clear they were full of shit. Quite frankly, I found it extraordinary. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857/57 "2023-10-20T14:16:27Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Sure–I’m asking you to explain how credible _you_ find it. I know you’re unimpressed with us, but are _you_ confident that the recording is a fake? I’ve specified twice previously in the thread that I think the authenticity of the audio recording is neither proven or unproven. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857/58 "2023-10-20T14:23:52Z")
Then I’m not clear on what you’re disputing. If you were completely confident in the journalist’s story and in the claims of his sources, you’d be confident the recording was a fake. That you think it’s unproven means you aren’t 100% confident, just like everyone else in this thread. I really don’t understand what you’re arguing over. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857/59 "2023-10-20T14:28:04Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Because I saw a hell of a lot of “reputable” journalists at “reputable” news organizations loudly and often parrot the claim that “Israeli airstrike destroys hospital, kills 500”, mentioning 3 or 4 paragraphs in that the only source for the story was a Hamas spokesperson. Could you provide some cites for this, please, where they definitively claim that it was an Israeli airstrike? ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857/60 "2023-10-20T14:33:22Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Then I’m not clear on what you’re disputing Normally, when a reputable journalist relays information from someone, there aren’t dozens of comments from people attempting to discredit and, in some cases, ridicule the journalist and the source of the information. That’s abnormal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idfs-alleged-recording-of-islamic-jihad-and-questions-of-journalistic-integrity-and-trust/991857.md?page=4)