Instead of a cold open about the news of the week, this weekend’s ‘SNL’ began with a plea to stand for humanity. Email not displaying correctly?
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** OPINION
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** Pete Davidson offered the right words about the Israel-Hamas war
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Comedian and actor Pete Davidson, shown here in March 2020. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

“Saturday Night Live” returned over the weekend for the first time since last April. The show typically has a cold open, usually playing off something in the news from the past week. The major story of last week, however, was the war in Israel and Gaza — not exactly a topic for comedy.

But “SNL” could not have handled it more perfectly. The show started with a camera on former cast member Pete Davidson, who hosted Saturday night’s season debut. He started by saying, “​​This week we saw the horrible images and stories from Israel and Gaza, and I know what you're thinking: Who better to comment on it than Pete Davidson?”

But then Davidson pointed out that he actually was a good person to address the issue. His father was a New York City firefighter killed in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Davidson said, “I saw so many terrible pictures this week of children suffering — Israeli children and Palestinian children. And it took me back to a really horrible, horrible place. No one in this world deserves to suffer like that, especially not kids, you know?”

Davidson was only 7 when his father was killed at the World Trade Center. He talked about how his mother, in an attempt to cheer him up, mistakenly bought him the R-rated “Delirious” standup act by Eddie Murphy when Davidson was 8. (She thought she was buying a Disney movie.) She immediately realized how inappropriate it was and tried to take it away from him.

“But,” Davidson said, “then she noticed something — for the first time in a long time, I was laughing again. I don't understand it, I really don't and I never will, but sometimes comedy is really the only way forward through tragedy.”

Davidson concluded by saying, “My heart is with everyone whose lives have been destroyed this week. But tonight, I'm gonna do what I've always done in the face of tragedy, and that's try to be funny. Remember, I said try.”

Here’s the video of Davidson’s comments ([link removed]) , which struck the exact right tone for the moment.

In a piece for CNN ([link removed]) , Dean Obeidallah wrote, “In a time when social media is filled with people saying they stand with one side or the other, Davidson instead made a plea to stand for humanity.”


** Difficult decisions about war coverage
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One of the most difficult decisions that news organizations have to make during their war coverage is what they should show their audiences, particularly when those images are graphic and disturbing.

My Poynter colleague, Fernanda Camarena, wrote about this topic ([link removed]) for Poynter, and she was well-positioned to do so. Camarena was most recently a manager on NBC News’ standards and practices team, where she provided support and guidance to all NBC News, MSNBC, Telemundo and streaming platforms to ensure quality control and high journalistic standards.

In her article for Poynter, she talked with two veteran standards editors about some of the decisions made over the past week, and what goes into such decisions.

Claudia Milne, senior vice president of standards and practices at CBS News, told Camarena, “At CBS News we think it’s important to show the reality of war, and the impact on civilian populations. We shouldn’t sanitize war. Having said that, we are mindful that these are victims of violence, and we want to preserve the dignity of people as much as possible.”

Milne added, “We might blur the faces of individuals who have been killed if they are clearly visible. We think about our audience and make sure that we don’t broadcast images that will make them turn away, thereby defeating the purpose of trying to show them what is happening.”

Other factors are considered, including who might be watching their newscasts at the time — especially children.

John Daniszewski, vice president and editor-at-large for standards at The Associated Press, told Camarena, “We know that war is brutal and violent, and some pictures surely need to be shown (Nick Ut’s napalm girl ([link removed]) or Eddie Adams’ image ([link removed]) of a Viet Cong prisoner being summarily executed are two examples). But we know that bloody, mangled bodies occur in every war and in many accidents, and we do not send all of these to the public out of reasons of respect for the audience and respect for the victims and their families. So, it is always a balancing act.”

Check out Camarena’s story ([link removed]) for more interesting and in-depth thoughts on this delicate but important topic.


** Strong comments
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Of the Sunday morning shows, Nikki Haley’s appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” was among the most interesting. The Republican presidential candidate and former South Carolina governor ripped into former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

Regarding Trump’s comments calling Hezbollah attackers “very smart,” Haley told CNN’s Jake Tapper, “It’s why I continue to say it is time for a new, generational leader. We have got to get past the headlines of the past. I mean, look, he congratulated the Chinese Communist Party not too long ago. He’s saying Hezbollah is smart. I can tell you, at the United Nations, when I was there — and I dealt with all of them every day — you don't go and compliment any of them, because what that does is, that makes America look weak. It doesn't make America look strong. It doesn't make America have friends with them. What you do is, you show strength. You let them know what we expect of them. So, complimenting Hezbollah and going and complimenting the Chinese Communist Party or criticizing a leader who has just watched so many of his citizens brutally murdered, it's the wrong place at the wrong time.”

As far as Republicans failing so far to find a speaker of the House after ousting Kevin McCarthy, Haley said, “What I am saying is, you can’t fix Democrat chaos with Republican chaos. They need to get it together. They need to get in a room and figure out who this is going to be and come out unified. That’s what Republicans need to do. This is not a good look. This is not good for our country.”

In another Sunday morning interview involving a Republican presidential candidate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tangled with “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan ([link removed]) over comments DeSantis made last week when he said, “We cannot accept people from Gaza into this country as refugees. I am not going to do that. If you look at how they behave, not all of them are Hamas, but they are all antisemitic.”

Brennan pushed back, saying, “I’m sure you know, all Arabs are Semites. But how can you paint with such a broad brush to say 2.3 million people are antisemitic?”

DeSantis said, “Well, first of all, my position is very clear. Those Gaza refugees, Palestinian Arabs, should go to Arab countries. The U.S. should not be absorbing any of those. I think the culture — so, they elected Hamas. Let's just be clear about that. Not everyone's a member of Hamas. Most probably aren't. But they did elect Hamas.”

That's when Brennan showed her interview skills, immediately interrupting DeSantis by saying, “In 2006. And then the military occupation happened after that, where they went in, and haven't allowed elections since 2007. … So, in 2006, there was an election, not since then.”

Good work by Brennan.


** Biden on ‘60 Minutes’
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“60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley interviews President Joe Biden. (Courtesy: CBS News.)

President Joe Biden appeared on Sunday night’s “60 Minutes ([link removed]) ” and was interviewed by correspondent Scott Pelley.

In one noteworthy moment ([link removed]) , Pelley asked Biden, “Are the wars in Israel and Ukraine more than the United States can take on at the same time?"

Biden snapped back, “We're the United States of America for God's sake, the most powerful nation in history — not in the world, in the history of the world. The history of the world. We can take care of both of these and still maintain our overall international defense. We have the capacity to do this and we have an obligation to.”

Biden also told Pelley he didn’t think Israel should reoccupy Gaza. Biden said, “I think it’d be a big mistake. Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas don’t represent all the Palestinian people. And I think that it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again.”

But, Biden said, “taking out the extremists” in Gaza is a “necessary requirement.”

The interview was taped last Thursday and aired Sunday night.


** Notable coverage from the war in Israel and Gaza …
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* The New York Times’ editorial board with “Israel Can Defend Itself and Uphold Its Values.” ([link removed])
* The Los Angeles Times’ Brittny Mejia with “How Jewish-Palestinian couples cope with a war that hits too close to home.” ([link removed])
* Washington Post columnist Perry Bacon Jr. with “The U.S. should back Israel firmly, but not unquestioningly.” ([link removed])
* For CNN, Richard Galant with “What the war is revealing.” ([link removed])
* The Associated Press’ Sarah El Deeb with “What is Hamas? The group that rules the Gaza Strip has fought several rounds of war with Israel.” ([link removed])


** Media tidbits
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* From Semafor, Ben Smith with “Journalist union seeks reporters’, sources’ emails in lawsuit.” ([link removed])
* Also from Semafor, Max Tani with “Wall Street Journal reporters split over Iran story.” ([link removed])
* Actress Suzanne Somers, co-star of sitcoms “Three’s Company” and “Step by Step,” has died from breast cancer. She was 76. Here’s a good remembrance ([link removed]) from CNN’s Alli Rosenbloom.


** Hot type
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The New York Times’ Dan Barry writes about the Minnesota Board of Pardons in “‘I Want to Be Forgiven. I Just Want to Be Forgiven.’” ([link removed])


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