How Wisconsin Watch debunked a false national headline

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Amid the Israel-Hamas war, misinformation has spread rampantly on college campuses. One particular moment on the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s campus created a social media firestorm after a false claim regarding a pro-Palestinian rally reached over 2.8 million views on Twitter.

In the post, a user inaccurately described protesters in a video clip as chanting “glory to the murders.” In fact, they were chanting “glory to the martyrs.”

Did pro-Palestine demonstrators at UW-Madison chant “glory to the murders?”

No. A video taken by a Wisconsin Watch reporter confirmed that the protesters were chanting “glory to the martyrs.”

Replies to the more sensationalistic tweet spread like wildfire in the following hours. The claim was picked up by news outlets including Fox News and the New York Post, which ran with headlines that UW-Madison refused to “condemn pro-Hamas demonstrations chanting ‘Glory to the murders.’” Since October, neither news organization has amended its misleading headline.

I happened to be crossing Library Mall on the way to class when the Madison for Palestine rally happened. I took video of the demonstration because as a journalism student, the situation provided an opportunity to practice my field reporting. When I saw the viral tweet, I realized my longer clip provided a clearer account of the leader’s instructions to the crowd. The word “murders” was clearly “martyrs.”

“It’s gonna be a call and response. When I say, ‘Glory to the martyrs,’ you say, ‘Glory to the resistance.’ When I say, ‘We will liberate the land,’ you say, ‘By any means necessary,’ ” a leader said to the crowd.

This correction, which checked misinformation in real time, is the kind of journalism Wisconsin Watch’s partnership with Gigafact was created to boost. Our fact briefs aim to check unsupported claims and dubious information with credible sources, helping readers discern the truth.