What the NYT Backlash Teaches About Media Framing of Victims

The criticism began with a piece by Times reporter Isabel Kershner, who covers Israeli‑Palestinian affairs. In the middle of an article about a documentary on Gaza, she wrote: “But Israelis still largely view themselves as the victims of Oct. 7.” The sentence quickly became the focus of a backlash.

The Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel killed about 1,200 people and left 254 hostages, making it the deadliest assault on Jews since the Holocaust.

Journalist Eitan Fischberger, a former Israel Defense Forces member, described the line as “grotesque” and said it turned an objective fact into a “victimhood mentality.” He compared it to imagining a Times headline that said Americans still view themselves as victims of 9/11 or Pearl Harbor. Earlier this month, Edieal Pinker of the Yale School of Management released a review that identified a clear bias against Israel in the Times’ early coverage of the Israel‑Gaza war.

The New York Times responded by defending its reporting. The paper called the criticism a “disingenuous attempt to seek attention and stoke outrage,” insisting the article was standard news coverage.

The episode illustrates how a single phrase can influence public perception of who is a victim in a conflict. It reminds journalists that precise wording matters, especially when reporting on highly charged events, because framing can shape narratives far beyond the newsroom.

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