Canadian photojournalist Valerie Zink has resigned from Reuters after eight years. She says the agency’s reporting on Gaza is a betrayal of journalists and that it is tantamount to legitimising and supporting the killing of dozens of Palestinian journalists.
Valerie Zink said in a statement on the social media platform X that it is no longer possible for me to continue working with Reuters because the agency is playing a role in legitimizing and enabling the systematic killing of journalists in Gaza. She strongly criticized Reuters’ reporting and pro-Israel policies following the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif and his colleagues in Gaza. Zink said that Reuters published Israel’s baseless claim that Anas al-Sharif was a member of Hamas, a lie that the Western media has repeatedly repeated and credibly given credence. In his resignation, Zink added that I valued the eight years I spent with Reuters, but now holding this press pass means only shame and sadness to me.
He stressed that the Western media’s willingness to advance Israeli propaganda has proven fatal not only for Palestinian journalists but also for Reuters staff itself. Zink also mentioned the recent Israeli attack in which six more journalists, including Reuters cameraman Hussam al-Masri, were martyred during the bombing of Al-Nasr Hospital. He said that it was a double-tap attack, meaning that a civilian target such as a school or hospital is first targeted, then the bombing is repeated when aid teams and journalists reach there.
Valerie Zink held the Western media directly responsible and cited the statement of renowned journalist Jeremy Schihl that major institutions from the New York Times to Reuters have become conveyor belts for Israeli propaganda, which whitewash war crimes and abandon the basic principles of journalism. It should be noted that Zink had been working as a freelance photographer for Reuters for the past 8 years and her photographs have been published in many institutions around the world, including the New York Times and Al Jazeera.
It should be remembered that according to statistics, 246 Palestinian journalists have been martyred since October 2023 as a result of Israeli attacks in Gaza.
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