Canadian Journalist Resigns from Reuters, Condemns Agency’s Role in Gaza Journalists’ Killings

By Staff, Agencies

Canadian photojournalist Valerie Zink has resigned as a Reuters stringer after eight years, citing the agency’s role in “justifying and enabling” the systematic killing of journalists in Gaza.

Zink, whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Al Jazeera, and outlets worldwide, announced her decision on Facebook, saying Reuters’ reporting helped create conditions that led to the deaths of at least 246 journalists since "Israel" began its war on Gaza in October 2023.

She condemned Reuters for amplifying "Israeli" military narratives without evidence, referencing its coverage of the August 10 targeted attack that killed Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif and others in Gaza City.

“Reuters chose to publish 'Israel’s' entirely baseless claim that al-Sharif was a Hamas operative – one of countless lies that media outlets have dutifully repeated,” she wrote.

Zink also criticized Reuters’ muted response to the deaths of its own staff. Hussam al-Masri, a Reuters photojournalist, was among more than 20 people killed when "Israel" bombed the main hospital in southern Gaza on Monday.

She described it as a “double tap” strike — an initial attack followed by another aimed at rescuers and journalists.

Citing journalist Jeremy Scahill, she argued that major Western outlets have become “conveyor belts for 'Israeli' propaganda,” sanitizing war crimes and dehumanizing Palestinians.

By uncritically echoing "Israeli" assertions, Zink contended, Western media have enabled more journalist deaths in Gaza in two years than in multiple modern wars combined.

She accused Reuters of abandoning al-Sharif despite his Pulitzer-winning reporting, failing to defend him after "Israeli" threats and then misrepresenting his killing.

“I can no longer conceive of wearing my Reuters press pass without deep shame and grief,” she said, pledging to honor Gaza’s reporters as “the bravest and best to ever live.”

As "Israel" continues to bar foreign journalists from entering Gaza, Palestinian reporters remain the sole source of firsthand accounts.

The OIC’s Federation of News Agencies condemned the ongoing assassinations of journalists, calling them violations of international law and part of "Israel’s" policy of “gagging the truth” and blocking global awareness of its actions.