Daily Mail’s misplaced descriptions of Dubai culprits
The murder of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai has received significant attention since Monday’s release of names and passport details of the 11 suspects wanted by Dubai authorities. Pledges of investigations, revelations of stolen identities and information about additional suspects have further fuelled speculation about who is responsible. Although Dubai authorities have published no evidence of the suspects’ origins, media suspicions focus on Israel’s secret service, Mossad.
News outlets have generally been cautious to make clear that the Mossad’s involvement in Mr al-Mabhouh’s murder is alleged by Hamas, and is as yet unconfirmed. A notable exception, however, was the reporting of the story in the Daily Mail.
The publication’s front page headline on Wednesday read ‘Terror of innocent Britons named as assassins’, with the introductory topline, ‘Why choose us, ask Britons whose identities were stolen by Mossad hit squad’ (subsequently altered). Page 4 of the newspaper, where the front page article authored by Dan Newling, James Tozer and Mathew Kalman continues, features the headline, ‘Dragged into a Mossad murder plot’. Journalist David Jones writes in an accompanying article, ‘Timed down to the last second and carried out with chilling effect, [the assassination] involved many of Mossad’s tried and trusted props’. Captions to two photographs also described those involved as ‘Mossad agents’ and ‘Mossad killers’.
In this way, the Daily Mail repeatedly identifies Mossad as the established culprit for its readers, despite the lack of confirmation of Israeli involvement. Furthermore, these headlines seem to contradict the body of the front page report which makes clear that these are only allegations. The piece even goes so far as to speculate over alternative explanations for the murder:
‘While Hamas has repeatedly accused Mossad of masterminding the assassination, rumours are swirling around the Middle East that the operation may have been carried out by a rival Palestinian group. One other theory yesterday was that the attack was carried out by Mr al-Mabouh’s enemies within the Palestinian movement.’
The mismatch between the newspaper’s content and the misleading headlines and captions was brought to the attention of Alex Bannister, Managing Editor at the Daily Mail. A similar issue with a headline on Times Online – ‘Mossad assassination squad ‘used British passports’ – was brought to the attention of the website’s staff who subsequently amended it to reflect the unconfirmed nature of Mossad’s involvement.
17 February 2010