In an internal meeting, CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour challenges the network over the “double standards” for covering the Gaza war

Christiane Amanpour, chief anchor of the American CNN network, expressed her “real concern” about the network’s policy and double standards for covering the war on Gaza.

The American website “The Intercept” revealed that the global news network’s employees , including Amanpour, confronted the executives about what they described as countless “leadership failures” in covering the Israeli war on Gaza, according to a leaked recording of a recent comprehensive meeting that was obtained by the website. .

In the hour-long meeting at CNN's London bureau on February 13, employees took turns grilling a panel of executives about the network's protocols for covering the war in Gaza and what they described as a "hostile climate for Arab journalists."

Many junior and senior staff described feeling devalued, embarrassed and shamed by the network's coverage of the war.

The panelists — CNN CEO and Editor-in-Chief Mark Thompson, Executive Editor Virginia Moseley, and CNN General Manager Mike McCarthy — responded with broad assurances that employees' concerns had been heard, while also defending the network's work and policies, citing persistent obstacles. Before reaching the Gaza Strip.

One issue that has come up repeatedly is CNN's long-standing process of routing nearly all coverage related to Israel and Palestine through the network's Jerusalem bureau.

As The Intercept reported in January, the protocol — which has been around for years but was expanded and renamed SecondEyes last summer — slows reporting on Gaza and filters news about the war through journalists in Jerusalem who work under military censorship. Israeli.

“You heard from me, you heard my real struggles with SecondEyes, the double standards, and all the rest,” said Amanpour, who was identified in the recording when an executive called her name. “I heard it, and I hear your response and I hope it goes a long way.”

CNN spokesman Jonathan Hawkins declined to comment on the meeting and pointed to the network's previous statement about SecondEyes, which it described as a process to bring "more experts" into around-the-clock coverage. Hawkins said: “I would like to add to this that the employees in this group include Arab employees who reside outside Israel, and this is what has happened since the group was founded.” Amanpour did not respond to a request for comment.

Like other major news organizations, CNN has faced a torrent of internal and external criticism for its coverage of Israel and Gaza since October 7, accused of downplaying Palestinian suffering and uncritically amplifying Israeli narratives.

Just this week, CNN described the Israeli massacre of more than 100 starving people who gathered to get food as a “chaotic incident.”

Earlier this month, The Guardian published an extensive story originating from several CNN employees who described the network’s coverage of Gaza as “journalistic malpractice.”

The newspaper quoted workers within the press organization as saying that pressure from the network's leaders led to a group of naive reports that could not be believed and ignoring the Palestinian perspective. The American network is facing a reaction from its employees because of its willingness to regurgitate Israeli propaganda and impose censorship on Palestinian perspectives related to the war.