The Chief of Freedom of Speech monitoring department institute of mass information in Kyiv, has a bit of an issue with the video used by WPLG in Miami.

They have reached out to the station for an explanation.

FTVLive obtained the letter sent to the station.

Dear WPLG Local 10 team,

We are grateful for your attention to the events in Ukraine and for reporting on the tragedy that occurred in Kharkiv in the early hours of June 7 as a result of yet another Russian strike. We value your work informing international audiences of the impact of Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine.

However, we would like to bring to your attention that the news story about the Kharkiv attack features footage which, as verified sources confirm, depicts a different incident: a strike on a humanitarian aid hub in the Gaza Strip. This footage is not indicative of the real impact of the Kharkiv attack and may mislead the audience, as well as downplay the scale of a real tragedy that occurred in a Ukrainian city.

We noticed that the news story has been removed from your YouTube channel. We would like to know whether your audience has been notified of the error and whether a public explanation or apology has been provided by your team. This is important both in terms of maintaining trust in journalism and of accurate representation of the events in Ukraine.

We will be grateful for a reply and, if possible, a public explanation of the situation.

Best regards,
Kateryna Diachuk
chief of the freedom of speech monitoring department of
Institute of Mass Information
Kyiv, Ukraine