Media mistake must not obscure genuine suffering

Every young journalist is taught that their career depends on spelling names correctly, not because the world turns on whether it’s Chaim or Haim Yankel, but because a simple error risks undermining trust in everything else we publish.

The danger of that lost confidence was powerfully illustrated this week when Getty Images distributed two dozen dramatic photographs of a skeletal Palestinian child.

The caption attached to the images identified the child as Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq, an 18-month-old who “faces life threatening malnutrition as the humanitarian situation worsens due to ongoing Israeli attacks and blockade”.

The caption was wrong. It failed to disclose that Muhammad's skeletal body is, at least in part, a result of complex medical conditions which may account for his malnourished state.

The images of Muhammed were probably the most dramatic photos of a child to come out of Gaza and they were distributed via one of the world's most reputable agencies. Dozens of media outlets around the world published these photographs, The Jewish Independent included. The New York Times, the BBC, Reuters, and Associated Press were among those who reproduced the misleading information in good faith.

We join with them in expressing deep regret at our publication of misleading information. Media outlets rely on the professionalism of the journalists, photographers, and agencies that supply us and when they get it wrong, we must recognise and correct the error immediately. We removed the problematic image as soon as we were made aware of the deceptive caption.

Getty has since corrected the caption which now describes the child as “suffering from medical issues and displaying signs of malnutrition”.