(José Niño, Headline USA) A journalism fellowship founded explicitly to help Israel win an “information war” has recruited prominent mainstream journalists as mentors, including CNN’s Van Jones and two New York Times reporters, according to a report by Drop Site News.
The Jacki and Jeff Karsh Journalism Fellowship emerged from founder Jacki Karsh’s mission to “shift some of the narrative” in Israel’s favor following October 7, 2023. The six-time Emmy-nominated Los Angeles journalist told a December 2024 interview that “October 7th happened and everything changed for me because I knew this was going to be a war of information the second it happened.”
The program describes itself as “the world’s only journalism fellowship solely dedicated to Jewish topics” and claims to be “resolutely nonpartisan.” Fellows participate in three retreats across Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and New York, attending sessions on topics including “Middle East Misinformation” and “How to Cover Antisemitism.” Each of the 10 selected journalists receives a $4,000 stipend, per a report by Jewish Insider.
Karsh’s inspiration came from a social media post by Aviva Klompas, former head of speechwriting at the Israeli mission to the UN, calling for fighting “on the battlegrounds of academia, law, business, media, and every other damn front we can think of.” Karsh responded directly saying “So this is my front. Journalism is my front. And I am doing what I can.”
The fellowship attracted 16 journalists and scholars from major news outlets. CNN’s Van Jones recently faced intense criticism for making light of “dead Gaza baby” images on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, calling them part of an Iran and Qatar disinformation campaign.
“If you open your phone, and all you see is dead Gaza baby, dead Gaza baby, dead Gaza baby, Diddy,” Jones said, drawing audience laughter. He later apologized, stating “The suffering of the people of Gaza — especially the children — is not a punch line,” per a report by Al Jazeera.
Two New York Times journalists serve as mentors. Jodi Rudoren, the paper’s former Jerusalem bureau chief who now oversees newsletters including The Morning and DealBook, and Sharon Otterman, who covers education, health, and religion and has reported extensively on Palestine solidarity campus protests.
The Atlantic’s Michael Powell also mentors fellows. His recent articles criticize human rights groups like Amnesty International for being “stridently critical of Israel.”
Karsh has taken hardline positions supporting Israeli military actions. “The Israel story is on the facts side, so you’re already starting from a good place because the truth is at the end of the day—the IDF is the most moral army in the world,” she said in a March interview with StandWithUs Campus.
She has dismissed Gaza’s casualty figures despite their accuracy being confirmed by the United Nations and Israeli military. “When numbers come from a Ministry of Health run by Hamas, whether that’s done deliberately or not, it influences how people perceive the story—and it can even shape policies,” she told eJewishPhilanthropy.
Karsh has described Hamas as “real life monsters” and compared them to Nazis. She has been particularly critical of campus Palestine solidarity protests, writing that “student journalism at some of the most elite universities had already become a breeding ground for rhetoric that marginalizes Jewish voices and vilifies Israel.”
The New York Times handbook states journalists “should take care to ensure” public engagements do not “create an actual or apparent conflict of interest, or undermine public trust in The Times’s independence.” When questioned about potential conflicts, Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander called concerns “ridiculous,” saying participation amounts to “helping to build the reporting skills necessary for the next generation of independent journalists.”
Fellowship director Rob Eshmen defended the program’s neutrality in an email statement, saying it “trains and supports journalists committed to fairness and accuracy on Israel and Jewish issues” and that “the best response to misinformation and disinformation on these issues is excellent journalism grounded in evidence, integrity, and independence.”
The fellowship launches during Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, including over 20,000 children. UN officials and genocide scholars have characterized Israeli actions as genocide. According to Drop Site News, Karsh “has never publicly expressed any concern or sympathy for the tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians killed by the Israeli military in Gaza.”
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
