U.S. Media Accused of Failing Yemen’s Murdered Journalists

September 17, 2025 – Yemen/United States –

On 10 September 2025, Israeli airstrikes hit the offices of 26 September, a Yemeni weekly newspaper affiliated with the Houthi movement, killing dozens of civilians and journalists. The attack on Sanaa struck the paper’s publishing house at a moment when staff had gathered for distribution, ensuring high casualties. At least 35 people were killed, including 31 journalists, making it one of the deadliest single attacks on media workers in years.

Human Rights Watch confirmed the scale of the deaths and raised alarm that the strike appeared deliberate, given the clear presence of journalists. The neighborhood was densely populated and close to a cultural heritage site, compounding the tragedy. Families held mass funerals, mourning not just the loss of lives but the silencing of voices central to Yemen’s already embattled press.

Yet despite the severity, the U.S. mainstream media offered little to no coverage. James North, writing in Mondoweiss, documented how major outlets such as The New York Times, NPR, and MSNBC ignored or buried the story. The Washington Post was one of the few to mention it, with only a brief Associated Press line noting that hundreds had attended funerals for the slain journalists. Beyond that, silence dominated.

The article argues this neglect mirrors the U.S. press’s treatment of Gaza, where scores of Palestinian journalists have been killed since October 2023. In both cases, the lack of coverage highlights a crisis of solidarity. Journalists are expected to advocate for colleagues killed in the line of duty, but in conflicts tied to U.S. foreign policy interests, murdered reporters are often erased from the narrative.

The implications are grave. By failing to cover these deaths, mainstream outlets not only diminish the victims but also enable impunity. Journalism’s integrity rests on the principle that an attack on one reporter is an attack on all. In Yemen, as in Gaza, silence has become complicity.

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Just as they have in Gaza, U.S. journalists failed their murdered colleagues in Yemen