6 minNews
Media Coverage of Oct. 7 Anniversary Overlooks Mamdani's Genocide Remark, Critics Say
Broadcast networks marked the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks with somber remembrances, but a media analysis argues they downplayed New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani's accusation that Israel committed 'genocide' in Gaza while amplifying his criticism of ICE days later.
Broadcast networks marked the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel with solemn remembrances, but a media analysis contends they largely avoided a controversy involving New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who accused Israel of committing an ongoing genocide in Gaza while mourning the attack's victims.
According to the analysis, none of the major broadcast networks focused on Mamdani's Oct. 7 statement, which described the day's events as an unthinkable loss before shifting to a denunciation of Israeli military actions. The mayor said the suffering did not begin or end that day and instead continued through what he called the Israeli government's devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza.
That language drew criticism because it echoed a term that Israel and its supporters strongly reject. The analysis noted that Mamdani later appeared at a candlelight vigil in Union Square, where anti-Israel protesters, some carrying Hamas and Hezbollah flags, booed and shouted at him with jeers including, «Zohran, you can't hide, we charge you with genocide.»
The broadcast networks did not highlight that episode, according to the analysis. Instead, they returned to Mamdani days later when the subject shifted to an ICE shooting during an enforcement action in New York. On the Oct. 9 «Today» show, reporter Erin McLaughlin noted that the mayor was now calling for ICE to leave New York City. Mamdani's soundbite was blunt: «We know that ICE is rotten to its core.»
ABC's «Good Morning America» reported that Mamdani was livid as he railed against immigration enforcers, saying, «We want ICE out of our city, ICE out of our schools, ICE out of our hospitals, ICE out of our streets, ICE away from our kids!» The analysis argued that the networks selected Mamdani's quotes carefully when they aligned with an anti-Trump agenda, while avoiding his more controversial remarks about Israel.
The broader media coverage of the Oct. 7 anniversary itself drew scrutiny in the analysis. On «CBS Mornings,» anchor Gayle King said that three years ago Hamas unleashed a horrific attack on civilians in southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage, and that Israel responded with an all-out military offensive in Gaza that killed more than 70,000 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry run by Hamas.
The analysis argued that the impression left was that Israel was 60 times worse than Hamas, and it criticized the use of statistics from a terrorist group without noting that Hamas does not distinguish between combatant and civilian casualties and routinely surrounds its soldiers and weapons with civilians.
ABC's «Good Morning America» devoted just 75 seconds to the anniversary, mostly focusing on allegations that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was warned in advance of the attacks. Foreign correspondent James Longman summarized claims that the UAE warned the prime minister a week and a half before the attack but those warnings were not passed on, and that the head of Egyptian intelligence came to Israel to warn about Hamas preparing something. Longman also noted outrage about how long it took for security forces to respond, adding that Netanyahu has called all this lies and a smear campaign.
National Public Radio's homepage on the morning of Oct. 7 led with a headline stating that three years on, Israelis grapple with reports Netanyahu was warned before the attacks. NPR reporters in Israel said Israelis were reeling from new revelations in Israeli and U.S. media that the country had been repeatedly warned by its regional allies that Hamas was planning to attack. They cited four anonymous sources with direct knowledge, while noting that Netanyahu has denied the reports, calling them fake news and filing a defamation lawsuit last week against Israeli news outlets that published them.
The evening newscasts on ABC, CBS and NBC did not use any Hamas body counts, according to the analysis. ABC disposed of the subject in a cursory 13 seconds, while the other two aired somber stories marking the dark day. CBS anchor Tony Dokoupil added that in the years since, more antisemitic violence has followed, targeting kids at Temple Israel in Michigan, a young couple outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, and a Hanukkah celebration on Australia's Bondi Beach.
The «PBS News Hour» devoted 13 minutes to the anniversary, much of it with Jonathan Dekel-Chen and Jaser Abu Moussa, two men who lost family members on opposite sides of the war and who appeared at the 92nd Street Y in New York that night to reject hate.
The analysis concluded that the broadcast networks will select Mamdani's quotes carefully when they neatly align with their anti-Trump agenda, but not when he uses charged language about Israel.
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