CBS News allegedly tells staffers not to report that Jerusalem is part of Israel because of disputed status

CBS News reportedly instructed its staffers not to refer to Jerusalem as being part of Israel as the network faces internal mounting pressure over its handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mark Memmott, CBS News’ senior director of standards, sent an email to all CBS News employees in late August with a list of terms to “be careful with” when “we talk or write about the news” pertaining to the war in Gaza, according to a report in The Free Press.“Jerusalem” made the list of contentious terms.“Do not refer to it as being in Israel,” Memmott reportedly wrote in the memo.Memmott acknowledged the US embassy in Jerusalem and that the Trump administration had validated Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the report said.“But its status is disputed,” Memmot reportedly wrote.“The status of Jerusalem goes to the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” “Israel regards Jerusalem as its ‘eternal and undivided’ capital, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem – occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war – as the capital of a future state.”CBS News did not respond to requests for comment.Congress acknowledged Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 1995, when it adopted the Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act.In 2017, former president Donald Trump formally recognized the holy city as Israel’s capital.But instead of instructing reporters not to refer to Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Memmott’s memo told journalists not to acknowledge that Jerusalem is located in Israel at all.Meanwhile, tensions have been brewing at the network after “CBS Mornings” co-host Tony Dokoupil grilled journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates on his anti-Israel book “The Message.” Subscribe to our daily Business Report newsletter! Please provide a valid email address.

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Dokoupil, a convert to Judais...