(José Niño, Headline USA) Journalist Alan MacLeod argued that a Channel 4 headline reporting on Israel’s latest invasion of Lebanon used “carefully constructed language aimed at manufacturing consent for Israeli atrocities,” according to his post on X. Israel has ramped up operations against Hezbollah, an ally of Iran, in light of the current air war Israel and the United States are launching against Iran.
I identified literally hundreds of former Israel lobbyists working in American newsrooms, writing and producing the country's news (including on the Middle East).
Read my bombshell investigation here:https://t.co/CnCFymOjEQ
— Alan MacLeod (@AlanRMacLeod) March 4, 2026
“Pay attention here: this kind of uber-passive language to describe a major war crime is not an accident. It’s carefully constructed language aimed at manufacturing consent for Israeli atrocities,” MacLeod wrote.
MacLeod, a media scholar and MintPress News journalist, pointed to several deliberate linguistic choices in the headline. The word “dead” instead of “killed” removes the perpetrator entirely and makes the event sound natural rather than the result of deliberate military action. The phrase “reported strike” casts doubt on whether the strike even happened despite widespread video evidence. The headline avoids saying who carried out the attack. Appending “Iran says” at the end frames the entire event as merely an Iranian claim rather than an established fact.
MacLeod is drawing on the media criticism framework from Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman’s “Manufacturing Consent.” The argument is that Western corporate media systematically use passive voice, removed agency and hedging language to minimize public outrage over atrocities committed by allied forces.
The criticism connects to MacLeod’s wider investigative work from 2024 showing that former Israeli intelligence officers and Israel lobby staff are embedded in major Western newsrooms including NBC, CNN, Fox News and The New York Times.
His investigation found former employees of AIPAC, StandWithUs and CAMERA now produce news at prestigious organizations. MSNBC’s executive producer was an IDF intelligence commander. CNN employed multiple Unit 8200 veterans including Tal Heinrich, who is now the official spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A leaked New York Times memo instructed reporters not to use words such as “genocide,” “slaughter” and “ethnic cleansing” when discussing Israel’s actions. Staff must refrain from using “refugee camp,” “occupied territory” or even “Palestine” in their reporting.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
