The New York Times recently came under a wave of criticism for its coverage of Israel's bombardment and killing of four Gazan children playing football at the beach.
The trusted American newspaper changed its headline from “4 Young Boys Killed Playing on Gaza Beach” to “Boys Drawn to Gaza Beach & Into Center of Mideast Strife” which was perceived by some as being misleading. The headline, as can be seen on NewsDiffs [1], changed between 8:35pm and 9:13pm on July 16.
In response, the pan-African website ‘Africa Is A Country [2]‘ asked its followers [3] to parody the title change on Twitter using the hashtag #NYThistory [4]:
Screenshot of the status shared by ‘Africa Is A Country’
Here are some examples of the ongoing hashtag campaign:
“Joan of Arc drawn to stake, and into center of large fire” #NYTHistory [4]
— Africa is a Country (@AfricasaCountry) July 17, 2014 [5]
“Rosa Parks drawn to public transport and into center of American racial tensions.” #NYTHistory [4] @AfricasaCountry [6]
— Niamh Ni Mhaoileoin (@nnimhaoileoin) July 17, 2014 [7]
East German govt builds a Wall in Berlin, raising questions about the applicable building code. #NYTHistory [4]
— Christiane Wilke (@jaanewilke) July 17, 2014 [8]
“Native people drawn to pale bearded guys off boats, into center of unprecedented attempts at annihilation” #NYTHistory [4] CC @AfricasaCountry [6]
— Anaïs Bédé (@anaisbd) July 17, 2014 [9]
“Chickens Drawn to Farms, and Into Center of Nutritional Practice” #NYTHistory [4]
— Trond Gausdal (@trondgausdal) July 17, 2014 [10]
“Cambodians drawn onto the fields of Kampuchea and into center of Pol's Pot.” #NYTHistory [4]
— Imran Garda (@ImranGarda) July 17, 2014 [11]
At the time of writing, Israel's “Operation Defensive Edge” has entered its 13th day and has already claimed the lives [12] of more than 280 Palestinians among them children and women, and one Israeli.