Reporting on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East

In our editorial process, Rocky Mountain PBS follows a principle outlined by NPR’s public editor Kelly McBride: no one story can tell the whole story. Providing balanced coverage comes from a body of work that includes different perspectives.

Rocky Mountain PBS seeks to illuminate global events through localized reporting. As part of our continuing coverage of conflict in the Middle East, we’ve featured a breadth of voices of Coloradans in an ongoing series, including a story about Rabbi Katie Mizrahi of Denver’s B’nai Havurah Reconstructionist synagogue discussing the different views of her congregation. In another report, our journalists spent time with Doctor Barbara Zind, a pediatrician from Grand Junction who was on a volunteer trip in Gaza when the war broke out and witnessed the violence of Israeli bombings first-hand. We featured a story about a Denver man who volunteered to return to service in the Israeli Defense Force, covered a Denver protest calling for cease-fire and reflected the light within the darkness as Denver’s Jewish community celebrates Hanukkah.

“It is very common in the human experience for people to assume bias when they don’t see their perspective represented in a story, and that’s completely natural,” McBride said in a conversation with Rocky Mountain PBS regarding newsroom coverage of ongoing violence in the Middle East. “And so when you see one story from a single perspective, and it’s not your perspective, it is a natural thing to say, ‘Well, that story is biased against my perspective.’ That’s one of the reasons why it’s so important to be in conversation with your community," she explained.

As we plan further coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, we will look to other voices within communities in Colorado, including how they have rallied, organized and taken action in the face of enormous loss. We welcome, as ever, community tips, feedback and suggestions. Please email us at journalism@rmpbs.org.

Please note: For guidance on the language used in Rocky Mountain PBS coverage, the organization defers to the Associated Press and PBS Newshour.