ABCD-GIS / Geography Colloquium - Accurate Journalism for Gaza

Speaker: Yarden Michaeli is a senior journalist at Haaretz, Israel's sole newspaper of record, and has been working at the newsroom there for the past ten years. In his most recent role, Yarden served as the newsroom’s Gaza editor, and personally reported on the war using technological tools. In prior roles, Yarden covered the war in Ukraine on the ground, founded the newspaper’s climate desk, and was the science desk editor during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Yarden was born in Israel and he is based in Tel Aviv. He has a Bachelor’s degree in American Studies and Economy from the Humboldt University in Berlin. Currently, Yarden is a Knight fellow at MIT, where he develops a research project focusing on the integration of technology and scientific knowledge into the newsroom, in order to develop solutions to journalistic challenges such as the Gaza war.

Title: Satellite Imagery in the Newsroom During War Time: Analysis of Usage Cases

At a time when powerful state-actors are creating black-sites of information around the world, it is crucial to break down barriers, and dig and reveal the reality taking shape behind the veil created by those powerful interests. This is particularly evident in Gaza - a story of crucial international importance - where journalists' access is unprecedentedly restricted compared to other war zones. This situation has distorted the Israeli public and international community's understanding of the conflict, already rife with disinformation and misinformation.

One important tool that serves to counter this phenomenon is real time satellite imagery analysis, which newsrooms and humanitarian organisations are increasingly using. This talk will analyze satellite-imagery based news stories and digital projects published by Haaretz, that revealed events of strategic importance happening in the Gaza Strip.

This talk will be in-person only.

Digital investigations:
■ Israel seized 26 percent of Gaza. Now, Jewish settlers see their chance
■ Gazans Fled Their Homes. They Have Nowhere to Return to
Opinions:
■ Now Is the Time to End the War in Gaza