Author of paper: Oshen English

Abstract:

We cannot afford to look down or even turn a blind eye to the work of journalism. Think about it, how far would you go to report and broadcast the truth of the news of the world? Readers of this paper will discover the work of journalists who use social media platform Twitter as a means to inform a worldwide audience of the ongoing conflict in Gaza and how they have helped stimulate further growth for communities, their response to bias misleading, censorship information made favourable to other groups of people and promoting online activism.

Essay:

Journalists, they’re more than just mere media reporters. They are people who put their lives on the line for truth and democracy, believe it! Just look out there, in this world where innocent people are losing their lives every day due to war and conflict. If you think a gun is dangerous, just wait and see what Journalists on Twitter are doing. The Israeli takeover in Gaza has a long history to its origin, as it began in 1948. However, the content of this essay will be directly focusing on Journalists as of recently reporting the clash between Israeli and Hamas troops since 7^th October 2023. Journalists are organising communities to help inform a worldwide adult audience on Twitter, by sharing posts and making tweets of their reports on the ongoing conflict in Gaza. This is done so by Journalists stimulating further growth for communities, response to bias misleading, censorship information made favourable to other groups of people and promoting online activism. Do not even think about turning your eyes away from this essay for a single second, you are about to find out that there is more to journalism media than meets the eye.

Journalists are no strangers to using Twitter when it comes to forming communities who collectively rush to engage with them and their latest reports on the Gaza conflict. They work to use this social media platform to their advantage by posting news stories online to audiences who prefer news delivered on social media rather than going to an online news website. This is done so at a now accelerating rate, stimulating the growth of communities. This comes from the understanding that people, especially younger generations are now getting more of their news on social media, taking on a great deal of online news consumption. According to the following statistics and a study into participation in young users receiving news online, ‘Unpublished findings from a survey conducted by two of the authors in Buenos Aires and its suburbs in October 2016 show that 74% of the respondents aged 29 years or younger believe that the expression “I come across news while I am on social media” reflects their experience better than “I visit online news sites to get news.” Boczkowski, Pablo J ; Mitchelstein, Eugenia ; Matassi, Mora, (2018-10). This helps explain why incidental news has turned into an accepted form of controversial social engagement for Twitter users. People tend to be attracted towards news that is either highly controversial or currently making major headlines. In context of the conflict in Gaza, Twitter users will engage with posts that detail the current situation of the war itself. It is usually video footage and personal tweets made by reporting Journalists that will be the centre of it all. The more convincing and emotionally impacting the post is, the more engagement it will receive which sets off a chain reaction of events: users retweet out the story, the story gets to the feed of those browsing for the trending topics of the day, controversy and discussion begins on how devastating the conflict is on Palestinians, tension grows towards Israeli troops as well as Israelian people who support the killing of other Palestinians. The drama continues to pile up, however Journalists will only cover the latest updates and developments on the conflict, giving Twitter users a front row seat on the news being broadcasted. Some are even losing their lives in the process, whilst we look on and witness the terror this is causing towards innocent and hardworking lives. This was Hossam Sabbat, a journalist working for Aljazeera, killed during the recent bombings in Gaza and this was his final message posted on Twitter, “If you’re reading this, it means I have been killed—most likely targeted—by the Israeli occupation forces. By God, I fulfilled my duty as a journalist. I risked everything to report the truth, and now, I am finally at rest—something I haven’t known in the past 18 months. I did all this because I believe in the Palestinian cause. I believe this land is ours, and it has been the highest honour of my life to die defending it and serving its people. I ask you now: do not stop speaking about Gaza. Do not let the world look away. Keep fighting, keep telling our stories—until Palestine is free.” @HossamShabbat on Twitter/X, (March 25, 2025). Hossam Sabbat’s final tweet gained mass media attention, reaching 9.7 million views, 4, 700 comments, 87, 000 retweets and 182, 000 likes on Twitter that day. Many people who replied commented on his commendable efforts as a journalist, gave praise to his heroic actions of fighting for Palestinians and showed disdain towards Israeli forces deeming them as ‘Nazi genociders’. This is where Twitter shines as a social media platform for Journalists. Having their last dying words shared with the world, will their fight for truth and democracy continue within the hearts of other users and Journalists alike. The people participating in these communities are especially of those who expect the media and journalists not to lie, placing a great deal of trust into the media, ‘This idea is further strengthened by the fact that in mediated democracies, most citizens expect the media to provide accurate information about current events (Bennett & Entman, 2001). Karlsson, M., Clerwall, C., & Nord, L. (2017). Journalists on Twitter organise communities by sharing posts and making tweets which allow for the stimulating growth for communities to have their say on the Gaza conflict expressing their beliefs and values so others may recognise it.Unfortunately, with news becoming more and more controversial giving people a voice to speak up on issues that really matter, biasness has arisen to throw off real media coverage of journalists on Twitter to favour that of scheming governments, corporations and political agendas with misinformation dividing users on what to believe and not to believe. 

When it comes to delivering media coverage on the Gaza conflict, there is no greater threat to it than the recent trend of censorship, bias and misinformation being spread depicting retellings of headlines that favour that of other groups, corporations and governments. With so much information being made easily accessible to the public, it is becoming increasingly difficult to determine whether the source is telling the truth (full story), or aims to provide bias context, misleading audiences in favour of other businesses, corporations or people in power. Journalists are always working to abide by the code of ethics to ensure that they do not run into any legal trouble with regards to copyright claims and crediting certain sources. On the other side of the coin, there are those present in the industry willing to change how the story has been written in favour of serving other communities, companies and political figures involved. They’ll do anything to save their miserable hides, such sacrilege and blasphemy should not be tolerated! This is where a scramble for control of power comes into play. According to an article on the future of Responsible journalism, ‘In the Australian context, for example, the code of ethics of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance states that journalists “scrutinise power, but also exercise it, and should be responsible and accountable” (Media and Entertainment Arts Alliance, Citation nd). Media organizations in the United States and the UK have similar statements related to responsible journalism.’ Kenyon, A. T., & Marjoribanks, T. (2008). With the ongoing reporting of the conflict in Gaza, Journalists on Twitter face the challenge of news censorship and how their work is being stripped away from them. President of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a bill to be passed to close down news broadcast channels such as Aljazeera in Israel, weakening the knees of journalists seeking to document full scale media coverage of the Gaza conflict. This comes from details from the Conversation website stating, ‘‘As well as restrictions on media access to Gaza, particular broadcasters face other restrictions. At the start of April Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had proclaimed he would “act immediately to stop” Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera’s operations inside Israel.’ The Conversation, The Conversation Media Group Ltd (April 25, 2024). This is furthered by ‘Israel’s parliament passed a bill allowing it to close Al Jazeera’s office in Israel, block its website and ban local channels from using its coverage. However ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Hamas, brokered through Qatar, were perhaps a bulwark against haste.’ With the Israeli president restricting the freedom journalists have on delivering news coverage on Gaza, Twitter has become one of the many few remaining social media platforms spared from censorship to interact with the public whilst still carrying out their job. In response to censorship and misleading biasness in news content, journalists utilise the blue check mark feature on Twitter which verifies their account so they may not be impersonated or sabotaged. This enhances the accessibility users of different social communities can acquire when searching for journalists on Twitter and can stay up to date on news information they can trust reporting on the Gaza conflict. The blue check mark icon also grants journalists to identify themselves in a genuine manner, being they are who they say they are. Good on you Twitter, thanks for looking out for journalists who are working hard to give the public real news that they deserve to know about. Journalists on Twitter organise communities by verifying themselves with a blue check mark to continue delivering news on the Gaza conflict in spite of censorship, bias and misleading sources attempting to divide users on what to believe and not to believe.

Journalism also has a way of influencing, as well as inciting online activism. Campaigns and trends of posting ‘#free Palestine’, ‘#free Gaza’ are prominent ways of attracting engagement especially if that is the belief followed by cultural/ethnic groups and forming protests. Twitter works in favour of Journalists in this instance, as journalists work to push an online movement agenda of reporting live on the conflict in Gaza, users take in the media by pushing a growing social agenda to elevate the voice of Gaza victims and refugees as a means to achieve equality and justice. If we have these rights, why not work together to help those who do not! An article on how social media is used as online activism to preach informal justice states: ‘Emerging work in this realm suggests that online spaces hold great potential when it comes to achieving justice, yet they simultaneously remain problematic and limited avenues. Salter (2013), drawing on the work of Nancy Fraser, argues that online spaces, and particularly social media, can function as a form of counter-public sphere.’ Fileborn, B. (2017). This can be referred to in relation to the Gaza conflict with Twitter being used as a ‘third place’ or ‘third space’ that gathers communities and groups to express their own thoughts and beliefs on how Journalists work to share their news on the Gaza conflict. Amongst the thriving network of these communities, there are two sides that users may find themselves see arguing amongst one another. There are those who side with Palestinians and then there are those who side with Israel. Unfortunately, it cannot be helped. Journalists cannot break apart the dispute amongst these kinds of communities, nor is it their business anyway. So, does that mean everything falls apart with users being diverted from the real issue? No, not at all, this only helps bring further attention to be an online activist in a time where Twitter has become a defined forum for journalists to speak on the truth behind the Gaza conflict. Children are being murdered, families are falling apart, people are losing everything out there. Now online activists are coming together to say, ‘No more, cease fire now and free Gaza!’ The response journalists have worked to incite amongst people who use Twitter has, in my opinion, brought out the best in humanity in regard to the conflict in Gaza. There are people who still care about supporting those less fortunate who have lost loved ones. No matter how powerful the opposition may be, as long as people work together for a meaningful cause, you can not extinguish the indomitable and rebellious spirit of humankind. There will always be those who stand to speak for those who can not and put their lives on the line for the survival of others. The real focus is that without online activism, there would be no point to journalists going to Gaza at all, which is why there has been no better time for communities on Twitter to band together to raise awareness on the tragedy of the conflict. Journalists on Twitter organise communities on Twitter by sharing posts and making tweets through inciting online activism that empowers voices that lack the strength to be heard and acknowledged.

You realise it now, don’t you?! That journalists (especially those on Twitter) are doing more than just spoon-feeding you news and spamming your feed with the latest headlines and updates. Think about it, what journalists have done to ensure that we are properly informed. We cannot just let this privilege be taken for granted! Journalists have used Twitter to help organise communities in such a spectacular fashion. They do so in such a manner that it stimulates growth for developing communities, are able to persist in spite of bias, censorship and misleading information to favour that of other groups, corporations and people in power and promote online activism. Twitter certainly has a vast amount of potential to be used as a safe haven for young and old journalists alike. It may not be the most popular social media platform out there, but amongst all the hype, it still shines as bright as a diamond for communities to build networks piece by piece to help share and acknowledge the work of great journalism. Going forward into the future, I believe journalism will only continue to greatly expand the media landscape. Communities on Twitter will continue to crave and seek the truth through incidental news consumption. This will hopefully inspire and motivate people to enter the field of Journalism and create positive change on people who think negatively about the media.

Bibliography

Karlsson, M., Clerwall, C., & Nord, L. (2017). Do Not Stand Corrected: Transparency and Users’ Attitudes to Inaccurate News and Corrections in Online Journalism. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 94(1), 148–167. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699016654680

Boczkowski, Pablo J ; Mitchelstein, Eugenia ; Matassi, Mora, (2018-10), “News comes across when I’m in a moment of leisure”: Understanding the practices of incidental news consumption on social media, in New media & society, SAGE Publications, 20(10), pp. 3523 – 3539

@HossamShabbat on Twitter/X, (March 25 2025), https://x.com/HossamShabat/status/1904219854183313461?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1904219854183313461%7Ctwgr%5E6a5e5a0592630deaf304949bcdb34e29910336b7%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2Fliveblog%2F2025%2F3%2F24%2Flive-israel-kills-46-in-gaza-including-two-hamas-officials

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The Conversation, The Conversation Media Group Ltd (April 25 2024), How Israel continues to censor journalists covering the war in Gaza, https://theconversation.com/how-israel-continues-to-censor-journalists-covering-the-war-in-gaza-228241

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