The Speech That the National Press Club Censored: The Betrayal of Palestinian Journalists
Chris Hedges details the access-based journalism that pervades the mainstream media and has betrayed the Palestinian press.
Photos
Protestors Attend The Antiwar Assembly In London
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 08: Journalist John Pilger (L) and Julian Assange, founder of the WikiLeaks website (R), chat before addressing the crowd during the ‘Antiwar Mass Assembly’ organised by the Stop the War Coalition at Trafalgar Square on October 8, 2011 in London, England. The demonstration sees prominent campaigners and artists calling for the British Government to immediately withdraw troops from Afghanistan. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
David Marr, Australian journalist, in Sydney, 2007.
TOPSHOT-PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-CONFLICT-MEDIA
TOPSHOT - Journalist Anas al-Sharif (C) and mourners holding ‘press’ signs surround the body of Al-Jazeera Arabic journalist Ismail al-Ghoul, killed along with his cameraman Rami al-Refee in an Israeli strike during their coverage of Gaza’s Al-Shati refugee camp, on July 31, 2024. Al Jazeera condemned the killing of two of its journalists, calling the deaths a “cold-blooded assassination” in a statement. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP) (Photo by OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images)
Utopia - Australian Premiere
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 17: John Pilger poses at the Australian premiere of John Pilger’s film, Utopia, at the Block in Redfern on January 17, 2014 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Don Arnold/Getty Images)
Future of Film: All That’s Fit To Shoot, Print Or... Tweet - 2014 Tribeca Film Festival
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 23: Journalist Ben Anderson attends Future of Film: All That’s Fit To Shoot, Print Or... Tweet - 2014 Tribeca Film Festival at SVA Theater on April 23, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
ISRAEL GAZA WAR
JENIN, OCCUPIED WEST BANK -- DECEMBER 13, 2023: Israeli soldiers stop an inspect identification for photojournalists Raneen Sawafta and Shatha Hanaysha covering the news as Israeli forces conduct raid operations throughout the city in Jenin, Occupied West Bank , Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023. Even as it assaults Gaza, Israel has pressed its offensive on Jenin refugee camp with a months-long operation to root out Palestinian fighters. (MARCUS YAM / LOS ANGELES TIMES)
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TOPSHOT - This picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip, shows an explosion in the northern part of the Palestinian enclave during an Israeli attack on November 22, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Hamas movement. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Memorial for Al Jazeera cameraman Abu Daqqa in Gaza’s Khan Yunis
KHAN YUNIS, GAZA - DECEMBER 15: Journalists gather in front of Nasser Hospital to commemorate the Palestinian journalist and Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa, who lost his life in the Israeli attacks on December 15, 2024 in Khan Yunis, Gaza. Journalists remembered their colleague Abu Daqqa by carrying his photographs. (Photo by Doaa Albaz/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Two Journalists, Including Son Of Al Jazeera’s Wael Al-Dahdouh, Killed In Southern Gaza
RAFAH, GAZA - JANUARY 7: Family and friends including Al Jazeera reporter, Wael Al-Dahdouh, bid farewell to the bodies of journalists Hamza Al-Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuraya on January 7, 2024 in Rafah, Gaza. (Photo by Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images)
PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-CONFLICT-GAZA-AL JAZEERA
This screen grab taken from AFPTV on August 11, 2025 shows Al-Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif speaking during an AFP interview in Gaza City on August 1, 2024. Al Jazeera said two of its correspondents, including a prominent reporter, and three cameramen were killed in an Israeli strike on their tent in Gaza City on August 10. (Photo by various sources / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP/AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images)
Fadi Al-Wahidi, Al Jazeera Cameraman Injured In Gaza, Receives Treatment In Cairo
CAIRO, EGYPT - FEBRUARY 10: Al Jazeera cameraman Fadi Al-Wahidi receives treatment at a hospital in Cairo after being shot by Israeli forces while covering events in the northern Gaza Strip on February 10, 2025 in Cairo, Egypt. Al-Wahidi was shot at by Israeli forces while reporting from Jabalia refugee camp in October 2024 and went on a hunger strike to demand treatment. (Photo by Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images)
New York Times Struggles With Reporting Scandal
NEW YORK - MAY 14: New York Times reporter R.W. Apple (R) walks to a town meeting held between staffers and top brass of the newspaper, which acknowledged in Sunday’s edition “frequent acts of journalistic fraud” by reporter Jayson Blair May 14, 2003 in New York City. Executive Editor Howell Raines is under fire for the paper’s persistent failure in stopping Blair, who was given plum assignments despite a history of errors and warnings from editors. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The most decorated British foreign correspondent Robert Fisk speaks to a private audience in the hom
The most decorated British foreign correspondent Robert Fisk speaks to a private audience in the home of Stanley Sheinbaum in Brentwood. Pic. shows him in a discussion with Roberta Seid(right) after the talk. (Photo by Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Thanks, Mr. Hedges, once again, for telling it like it is.
Real journalism does more than inform: It inspires, it activates, it opens and breaks the heart.
I, for one, would rather be aware, no matter how painfully, than blissfully ignorant.
As an Australian citizen
and in the Australian vernacular -I can absolutely see why the Australian Press Club shat itself and then rolled around and it’s own shit publicly denying that they cancelled the speech because they are cowards
and over privileged pundits like David Marr trade in mendacity- Marr has reduced the celebrated “late night live” show on Radio National to a farce -