In a recent investigation, it has been found that CNN leaders have implemented policies that favor Israel, raising concerns about the objectivity of its reporting. The investigation revealed an email sent by CNN's News Standards and Practices on October 26, instructing staff to refer to the Gaza Ministry of Health as "Hamas-controlled" whenever mentioning the Palestinian death count.

This directive, which is followed by many major news outlets, is despite the assertion of numerous human rights groups and war experts that the Gaza health ministry's death tolls have historically been accurate. Public health experts have independently found no evidence of inflated death counts by the ministry.

The email memo stated, "If the underlying statistics have been derived from the ministry of Health in Gaza, we should note that fact and that this part of the Ministry is 'Hamas-controlled' even if the statistics are released by the West Bank part of the ministry or elsewhere."

Furthermore, on November 2, CNN's Senior Director of News Standards and Practices, David Lindsey, sent another note to staff explicitly instructing them not to provide a platform for statements from Hamas leaders unless heavily contextualized. It was emphasized that Hamas representatives had been deemed to engage in inflammatory rhetoric and propaganda.

However, it is worthy to note that war-time statements from all parties involved in conflicts should be scrutinized based on journalistic practices. CNN, however, has faced criticism for allegedly not subjecting Israeli officials' statements to similar scrutiny. In several instances, stories prominently featured inflammatory statements from Israeli sources with little context or clarification, even when other major outlets expressed skepticism.

The Intercept quoted Jim Naureckas, editor of media watchdog Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting, stating, "When you have a protocol that routes all stories through one checkpoint, you're interested in control, and the question is who is controlling the story?" He added that allowing a government, which has been accused of targeting journalists and suppressing information, to influence news decisions is concerning.

Advocates for Palestinian rights have long argued that major U.S. and Western media outlets exhibit an anti-Palestinian bias. This sentiment has been further magnified during the ongoing conflict, as CNN and other major outlets have faced scrutiny for embedding themselves with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to report on Gaza. This means they are accompanied and observed by Israeli military forces and must submit their coverage to the IDF for approval before publication, raising questions about objectivity in reporting.

The investigation shed light on CNN's policies that favor Israel and has sparked a wider debate on the influence of governments on news reporting. As media organizations strive to uphold journalistic standards and impartiality, it is essential to scrutinize editorial decisions as they may shape public perceptions of conflicts and impact the overall understanding of events unfolding in different regions of the world.