It’s time to come clean about reporting from unfree societies

The media is not transparent enough about the limitations of reporting from places run by thugs. Examples, from Russia to Gaza to North Korea and also China, abound.

The Gaza war has become a story not just about suffering, siege, and struggle — but about storytelling. Amid rising global outrage over hunger and civilian death, the role of the media is now under the spotlight — again. This week, a German investigation by Süddeutsche Zeitung alleged that viral images of Palestinians pleading for food were staged for p…