Outrage Over Pro-Israel PR Group's Smear Campaign Against Award-Winning Washington Post Journalist’s Reporting On Gaza

It’s emerged that a pro-Israel PR group, with links to the Democrats and President Biden, is leading a smear campaign against the Washington Post’s former Baghdad bureau chief, Louisa Loveluck for failing to adopt Israel government talking points being used to justify the ongoing bombing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

SKDK, a Washington-based public relations firm was hired by five Jewish groups including AIPAC and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for the 10/7 Project. This initiative aims to promote “continued US support for Israel and counter misinformation about the Israel/Hamas war” following the horrific Hamas attacks on Oct. 7.

This campaign includes monitoring media reports considered hostile or critical of Israel as well as targeting those journalists who are reporting on the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, as the death toll approaches nearly 30,000.

SKDK, co-founded by top Biden confident and adviser Anita Dunn, was accused last year of advising an Illinois House speaker while also providing support for the woman who accused one of his aides of sexual harassment.  When this was exposed the firm claimed it was an "error" - the speaker was later indicted.

There are accusations that those behind the 10/7 Project are applying pressure on media outlets to publish pro-Israel content and to remove journalists they regard as biased.

Their current target, Loveluck, is a London-based correspondent for The Washington Post, specializing in global crises. She received the IWMF Courage in Journalism Award last year.

Loveluck, a graduate of King’s College, Cambridge, began her career as a researcher for the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in London.  She reported from Cairo for The Daily Telegraph for three years until joining The Washington Post in 2016 as a Laurence Stern Fellow. She was appointed by the Post as its Baghdad bureau chief in 2019. 

It's been reported that SKDK compiled a dossier of the journalist's past tweets to "prove" inherent bias, seen by some critics as a clear attack on freedom of the press and independent journalism.

The firm wrote in a memo, “For many years, Loveluck’s online presence was that of a far-left activist: she has voiced negative opinions about pro-Israel American leaders and Israeli leadership, has been a proponent of the anti-Israel Qatar-owned Al-Jazeera TV.”

Alarmingly, the smear tactics included claims that her taking part in a protest against tuition fees while a student at Cambridge University proved her radical left bias.

In a statement to the news website Semafor, SKDK’s Jill Zuckman was unapologetic and insisted Loveluck “repeatedly displayed bias toward the subjects of her reporting in her tweets and retweets,” and this was justification to target her integrity as a journalist and delve into her personal life.

The Israeli government's need to control and influence narratives regarding its bombing campaign in Gaza, which has inspired international condemnation and has led to claims of genocide at the Hague’s International Court of Justice, is well illustrated in its criticism of Loveluck's failure to stress the Gaza Health Ministry was controlled by Hamas.

This strikes a chord with a similar attack against journalist Mehdi Hasan last November. In an interview on his MSNBC show, Israeli spokesman Mark Regev insisted that journalists must say "Hamas controlled" when quoting death toll figures, which Hasan refused to accept. His forceful insistence on this matter garnered much attention and an outcry ensued when just weeks later MSNBC announced Hasan’s popular show was ending.

These identical attacks seem to show undue influence by pro-Israel lobbyists over the media. Ironically critics and Pro-Palestinian groups point out that the death toll figures have validity and have been confirmed by UN agencies, human rights organizations, and even independent journals like The Lancet.

While the Washington Post made a statement supporting its coverage and its journalist, it did not defend Loveluck's tweets. The newspaper’s spokesperson said it was responsive to criticism when it was merited, stating:

“When we make errors, we take every step to correct them and to provide full transparency to our readers. The Post expects our journalists to refrain from social media postings that could raise questions about our fairness or independence. We also prioritize the security of our employees, and we cannot condone any efforts that could endanger or jeopardize their safety."

However, other reporters came out in full support of Loveluck's integrity as a journalist. The HuffPost’s senior diplomatic correspondent, Akbar Shahid Ahmed wrote on his social media handle, X: 

“Like so many, I’ve benefited immensely from LoveLuck’s dogged, humane reporting across the Middle East through an incredibly complex period. I’m glad to see the Post standing behind her. Hope more folks speak up against SKDK’s shoddy bid to silence crucial Gaza reporting.”

Another journalist Marcus Baram called the attacks “absolutely outrageous” while several media experts have raised concerns about the influence of pro-Israeli lobbies and bias in Western media coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict going back decades.

A recent study gathered over 1,000 stories covering Israel's attack on Gaza from the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times and counted the occurrences of specific key terms and the context in which they were used.

The result showed a significant disparity in how Israelis and pro-Israel personalities are reported versus Palestinians and pro-Palestinian voices, with a clear trend favoring Israeli narratives over Palestinian ones.

Pro-Palestinian groups say this is how Israel has been able to sustain its current bombing campaign and this is a significant reason why the Middle East conflict has festered without resolution for so long.

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