Reuters' Luke Baker finds unverified Palestinian reports from a proven liar credible enough to tweet

A tweet from Luke Baker of Reuters:

The article he linked to is from Wafa, the official PA news agency:

Settlers set fire to farming land south of Nablus

NABLUS, November 24, 2016 (WAFA) – Israeli settlers from Yitzhar Thursday set fire to farming land in the town of Huwwara, south of Nablus, according to Ghassan Daghlas, an official who monitors settler activities in the north of the West Bank.

He said residents saw dozens of settlers setting fire to the land and watched from the hills celebrating as the fire raged in the area.

Fire gutted olive trees in the area, he said, as fire fighters and residents were trying to contain it before it spreads to other areas.

Weather conditions and high wind cause fires to spread fast as officials have warned against starting fire anywhere.

However, officials said the settlers took advantage of the bad weather conditions to destroy as much as possible of the Palestinian agricultural land knowing very well that the fire is going to spread fast.

As I have reported, Ghassan Daghlas is literally paid by the Palestinian Authority to lie about Israel. I've exposed his lies many times.

Shouldn't the Reuters bureau chief who has been in the region for years know this?

True, he is not reporting it as fact. He's merely trying to show a possible other side of the story. But by any measure, this Reuters bureau chief is giving credence to a proven liar being reported by an official media outlet that has no journalistic integrity whatsoever.

And Reuters has quoted Daghlas at least a dozen times in the past.

Baker is reporting unproven propaganda as something worthy of consideration to his audience without telling them that the source he is using is not only worthless, but proven to make things up for political purposes.

A real reporter would do a modicum of fact checking not only of the story but also of the source. Luke Baker prefers to spread the false propaganda rather than to even make a half-hearted attempt to verify or debunk it.

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