Video October 16, 2025

What does the Western media get wrong about the Middle East?

Listen on Amazon Music | Apple Podcasts | Spotify 

In striving for balance and neutrality, does the Western mainstream media end up spreading misconceptions, myths and mistruths about the wars and conflicts in the Middle East? What are news consumers in the West missing about the war in Gaza, the turmoil in Lebanon, Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere? How can we ensure better coverage of the raging conflicts that are shaping our world today? 

Panelists: Hadeel Al-Shalchi (Editor, NPR’s Weekend Edition), Mohamad Bazzi (Director, Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at New York University), Martin Lukacs (Managing Editor, The Breach), Ari Paul (Journalist, FAIR.org) Moderator: Julian Sher (Journalist, author & CFE Senior Fellow)
 

This conversation occurred on October 16, 2025 and was co-sponsored by Canadian Association of Journalists and PEN Canada.

Related

News February 13, 2025

CFE Co-sponsoring Colloquium on “Reporting News in a Disbelieving Age”

The manifold crises besetting journalism in Canada and internationally includes the growing public disdain for journalists and the media.  In an effort to address what can be done, the Centre for Free Expression is hosting and co-sponsoring a colloquium at Toronto Metropolitan University on June 5 and 6, 2025, titled: “Reporting News in a Disbelieving Age: Standards of practice amid the crisis in journalism's credibility.”
Freedom of the Press