The United States government recently expressed strong disapproval of The New York Times’ reporting on the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed 26 lives. The issue arose from the newspaper’s choice of words, which referred to the attackers as “militants” and “gunmen.”
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This language was seen as softening the gravity of the incident. The criticism came amid rising concerns over how international media portrays terrorism-related events in India.
US Slams New York Times for Softening Terror Report
The US House Foreign Affairs Committee took specific action by replacing the term “militants” with “terrorists” in the original headline. They argued that such wording downplays the brutal nature of the attack. The committee emphasized the importance of accurate and responsible terminology in global reporting. Their move highlighted a broader expectation for media to use language that reflects the true seriousness of terrorist acts.
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In a pointed X post, the committee shared a screengrab of the report’s original headline with the word militants crossed out and replaced with the term ‘terrorists’ in bold and red colour.The original The New York Times headline read, “At Least 24 Tourists Gunned Down by Militants in Kashmir.
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