Self-immolation is an extreme act of protest, characterized by one setting themselves on fire. The form of protest is largely used as a form of political protest; one of its earliest examples lies in the self-immolation of Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức during the Diệm administration.
On Feb. 25, 25-year-old Aaron Bushnell, a senior airman in the United States Air Force, set himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington D.C. to protest the genocide of Palestinians and U.S. complicity. Bushnell live streamed his self-immolation on Twitch, a live streaming service often used to live stream video games, where he stated he “will no longer be complicit in genocide.”
His last words were “free Palestine.”
Intentionally or not, many of the reports on Bushnell’s act of protest seem to misconstrue why Bushnell did what he did. The headlines written by Western media sources read to the effect of “US airman sets himself on fire outside Israeli Embassy” or “Man dies after burning himself to death in front of Israeli Embassy.” While this is technically not untrue, it leaves out one important piece of the story: Aaron Bushnell set himself on fire to protest Palestinian genocide.
It is not that journalists were unaware of this fact; many went on to indicate that Bushnell self-immolated because of this. But while the aforementioned exclusion may not seem like a big deal because of this later admission, headlines should include the most important context, especially in news writing. The headline tells the reader what the story is about. Leaving out a crucial piece of the story in the headline does a disservice to readers and misrepresents the story at hand.
According to the Society of Professional Journalists, journalists should “provide context. Take special care to not misrepresent or oversimplify in promoting, previewing, or summarizing a story.” It is a huge piece of journalistic integrity.
I understand genuine oversights; hell, I’ve made a few and I don’t know a journalist that hasn’t. But exclusion looks like a conscious choice when the context they can provide isn’t difficult. In this case, it’s not too much to say something to the effect of “U.S. airman self-immolates infront of Israeli Embassy in protest of Palestinian genocide” instead of “U.S. airman sets himself on fire in front of Israeli Embassy.”
The former provides necessary context, the latter lacks it.
We are journalists. The people depend on us for their information. We need to do better at providing context in each circumstance that calls for it, even if it is just the headline. Sometimes that’s all people read.
