Media Review: New York Times answers the question, why do American students choose Aljazeera?

The New York Times, which has been accused of biased reporting on the war in Gaza even by its own contributors, and and whose editors instruct its journalists about which words to use, is now providing some answers as to why young Americans, especially students, are using other media outlets, like  Aljazeera to learn about what is happening in Palestine. 

Although Aljazeera is a major alternative media outlet, its connection to the State of Qatar, make its influence limited, opening the door to new media sources, like Quds News Network (an English channel) and Palestine Online (an Arabic channel),  that rely on social media platforms, like Telegram, to broadcast globally.

The paper argues that in light of the student movement in American universities to stop the Israeli war on Gaza, the reluctance of new generations in the United States to follow major Western media outlets has emerged, and their skepticism about their faithfulness in conveying the truth of what is happening.

The New York Times followed this trend among student protesters who recently held sit-ins at dozens of American universities, to shed light on their objections to the Western media, and at the same time their interest in the Aljazeera network, which has become their main source of information regarding the war on Gaza.

“Aljazeera is my go-to place for reliable storytelling,” says Nick Wilson, a student at Cornell University.

The newspaper explains that the protesting students expressed their dissatisfaction with the traditional American media’s coverage of the war, including the New York Times itself, CNN, the Atlantic, and others.

NYT explains that despite the widespread coverage of the war by these networks, students believe that they do not hold Israel responsible - to a sufficient extent - for the killing of Palestinians and do not verify the validity of what Israeli officials say, and that their coverage of student protests focused too much on anti-Semitism in universities instead From Islamophobia.

Related to Aljazeera being in the news, confirming the connection between governments and media outlets, the Israeli government banned a number of media outlets including Aljazeera.

The NYT noted that Israel's recent closure of Aljazeera's offices has strengthened the network's standing in the hearts of the protesting American students.

Benjamin Netanyahu's government closed Aljazeera's offices on May 5, a decision that was widely condemned by international press unions and human rights organizations as an attack on press freedom and an attempt to silence Aljazeera because of its coverage of the war.

Reactions continued denouncing the Israeli government's decision to close Aljazeera's offices in Israel, amid confirmation that the decision aims to silence Al Jazeera because of its coverage of the war on Gaza.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed its regret at the Israeli Cabinet’s decision to close the Aljazeera office.

While the Commission stressed that freedom of expression is a basic human right, it urged Israel to rescind its decision, stressing that free and independent media are necessary to ensure transparency and accountability.

For his part, the UN rapporteur on the right to housing said that Israel's decision to close Aljazeera once again denies its claims that it is a democratic state, describing the decision as "the reaction of a terrified regime that fears freedom."

Reporters Without Borders also strongly condemned the Israeli government's unanimous vote to stop the work of Aljazeera in Israel.

The organization said in her account on the “X” platform that what she described as the blatantly repressive legislation to stop the work of Aljazeera aims to silence it because of its coverage of the war on Gaza.

It pointed out that the move indicates unacceptable censorship against the last media outlets that can report events in Gaza.

The international organization also called for the repeal of the law passed by the Israeli Parliament banning foreign media broadcasts in Israel, primarily targeting Aljazeera.