Paper Amends Story to Reflect Truth of Netanyahu’s ‘Hamilton’ Reception
Error: Contact form not found.
by Adam Levick
Israeli PM Netanyahu, as he enters the Richard Rodgers Theater in NY, to see ‘Hamilton.’ Photo: Mark Young/Twitter.
As Israellycool and Yair Rosenberg recently revealed, a myth was reported as news by the New York Post’s Page Six and the Daily Mail on September 26, regarding the reception received by Israel’s prime minister while attending a Broadway play in New York.
Both publications claimed that Netanyahu was “booed” as he took his seat for a performance of “Hamilton” on Saturday night at the Richard Rodgers Theater.
Here’s the (original) Daily Mail headline and strapline:
The (original article) began as follows:
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was booed and met with cries of “Free Palestine” after going to watch hit Broadway musical Hamilton.
Two women were even escorted out of the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York after trying to shove their way through the politician’s heavy security, witnesses said.
Theatregoers took to social media to vent their frustration at how the commando-turned prime minister arrived late on Saturday night and sparked a furor.
Melanie Colton tweeted: “At Hamilton with Netanyahu attending. Two women leave the theater screaming, ‘Free Palestine!’ as they shove their way through the security.”
However, while two people attending the performance may have screamed “free Palestine,” as you can see in this video (originally posted by Israellycool) of Netanyahu taking his seat, the Daily Mail got the story wrong.
The article didn’t mention a thing about the ovation.
We contacted Daily Mail editors to complain, and forwarded them the video of the cheering crowd.
They responded promptly. Though they refused to change the grossly misleading headline, they did agree to add an additional bullet point to the strapline and new text to the story to note the ovation.
Here’s the new bullet point in the strap line:
More importantly, here is the new opening of the article:
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was met with a mixed reception when he went to watch Broadway musical Hamilton.
While many in the crowd clapped as the political arrived at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York, others booed and yelled out ‘Free Palestine.’
Later in the article, they added this, noting a Facebook post by the prime minister in which he mentions the positive reception he received at the play.
When I entered the main hall of the theatre, more than 1,000 people welcomed us with enthusiasm.
Many stood on their feet and applauded. Among the cheering crowd maybe one or two called out derogatory remarks.
Though we’re of course pleased that editors made these changes, the story is still extremely misleading as the (still unrevised) headline represents pretty much the opposite of the truth.
