Times Opinion says it “rigorously edited” and vetted a guest essay’s reporting of dozens of children treated for head and chest gunshot wounds in Gaza, and even went back over its own tracks after the story sparked backlash and accusations of fabrication online.
“We rigorously edited this guest essay before publication, verifying the accounts and imagery through supporting photographic and video evidence and file metadata,” the Times wrote Wednesday. “We also vetted the doctors and nurses’ credentials, including that they had traveled to and worked in Gaza as claimed. When questions arose about the veracity of images included in the essay, we did additional work to review our previous findings.”
The essay, titled “65 Doctors, Nurses and Paramedics: What We Saw in Gaza,” was published in the Opinion section last Wednesday.
Times Opinion said the piece “gathered first-hand testimonies from 65 U.S.-based health professionals who worked in Gaza over the past year, who shared more than 160 photographs and videos with Times Opinion to corroborate their detailed accounts of treating preteen children who were shot in the head or chest. Following publication, some readers questioned the accuracy of the accounts and the authenticity of three CT images shown. Those criticisms are unfounded.”
The paper did not publish the more than 40 photographs and videos, calling them “too horrific for publication.”
“We stand behind this essay and the research underpinning it,” Times Opinion wrote. “Any implication that its images are fabricated is simply false.”
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