A journalist detained by Israel describes being interrogated using fear tactics, while US media and the Biden administration showed far more concern about public image than about his safety.

• An American journalist held in Israeli custody says he was placed in solitary confinement and forced to listen to another inmate's screams before being taken for interrogation, a tactic he found referenced in prisoner rights documentation as a known fear-inducing technique.
• Internal State Department emails show officials were focused on talking points and managing public perception rather than working to free him, with complaints centered on people calling to demand his release, not on his safety.
• US networks largely ignored the story, in sharp contrast to the heavy coverage given to Americans detained by Russia, while Israeli outlets covered it extensively.
• The pattern extends to other journalists: an Associated Press reporter was killed by an Israeli sniper (confirmed by CNN's own investigation) and a Washington Post journalist was recently beaten in the West Bank, both with little sustained US media follow-up or accountability pressure from Washington.
• Over 240 journalists have been killed in the Gaza conflict, a toll the journalist says has raised the personal risk of reporting there so high that it is silencing Western and local coverage alike.

Outlook: Without real pressure from US media or the government, journalists face rising risk covering Israel's actions, and accountability for past incidents remains unlikely.