When a terrorist opened fire on a bus full of families near Jerusalem last night (Wednesday), killing a 12-year-old boy, major international news outlets seemed to perform linguistic gymnastics to avoid calling it what it was - a terror attack.
Reuters ran this with remarkably cautious headline: "Suspected Palestinian shooting attack on Israeli bus kills child." The word "suspected" particularly stood out, given that the attacker had already surrendered and confessed to the shooting.
CNN went even further in its attempt at "neutral" language. Their headline delicately sidestepped any mention of terrorism: "Child killed after shooting attack on civilian Israeli bus in West Bank." Throughout their coverage, the network referred to the perpetrator as an "attacker" or "shooter" - never a terrorist - even though he had deliberately targeted a civilian bus carrying families returning from a celebration.
"It's remarkable how international media can make a clear-cut case of terrorism sound like a traffic incident," noted one Israeli media analyst, speaking on condition of anonymity. "When a gunman specifically targets a bus full of civilians and fires 23 bullets at them, what else would you call it?"
Both networks made sure to include the phrase "occupied West Bank" in their coverage, maintaining their standard editorial guidelines even while reporting on the death of a child. The linguistic tightrope walk continued throughout their coverage, with carefully curated phrases that seemed designed to avoid taking any position - even on the targeting of civilians.
"When media outlets work so hard to avoid calling terrorism by its name," one Israeli journalist observed, "you have to wonder what they're really trying to achieve with their objectivity."
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