Israel-Gaza battle: BBC employees accuse broadcaster of bias in Palestine protection | EUROtoday

Get the free Morning Headlines e-mail for information from our reporters internationally

Sign as much as our free Morning Headlines e-mail

More than 100 BBC workers are accusing the company of offering beneficial protection towards Israel and are calling on the broadcaster to “recommit to fairness, accuracy, and impartiality” over its reporting on Gaza.

In a letter despatched to Tim Davie, signed by greater than 230 members of the media trade, together with 101 nameless BBC employees, the company is criticised for failing its personal editorial requirements by missing “consistently fair and accurate evidence-based journalism in its coverage of Gaza”.

Seen completely by The Independentthe letter, which has additionally been signed by Sayeeda Warsi and the actor Juliet Stevenson, calls on the BBC to report “without fear or favour” and to “recommit to the highest editorial standards – with emphasis on fairness, accuracy, and due impartiality”.

The letter additionally calls on the broadcaster to implement a sequence of editorial commitments together with “reiterating that Israel does not give external journalists access to Gaza; making it clear when there is insufficient evidence to back up Israeli claims; making clear where Israel is the perpetrator in article headlines; including regular historical context predating October 2023; and robustly challenging Israeli government and military representatives in all interviews”.

The BBC has denied these claims, insisting it “strives to live up to our responsibility to deliver the most trusted and impartial news”.

A spokesperson mentioned: “When we make mistakes or have made changes to the way we report, we are transparent. We are also very clear with our audiences on the limitations put on our reporting – including the lack of access into Gaza and restricted access to parts of Lebanon, and our continued efforts to get reporters into those areas.”

Other signatories on the record embody the historian William Dalrymple, Dr Catherine Happer, a senior lecturer in sociology and director of media on the University of Glasgow, Rizwana Hamid, the director on the Centre for Media Monitoring, and the broadcaster John Nicolson.

It is just not the primary time the BBC has been criticised for bias in the course of the Gaza warfare. In September, the BBC refuted claims that it had breached its personal pointers greater than 1,500 instances following a controversial report alleging that some BBC correspondents had excused or downplayed Hamas’s actions. A spokesperson for the BBC mentioned on the time that it could “carefully consider” the analysis however denied claims of bias.

Nonetheless, the signatories of the letter insist the bias favours Israel. A present employees member who has signed the letter informed The Independent that a few of their colleagues have left the company over its protection.

“I have never, in my entire career, witnessed such low levels of staff confidence,” they mentioned. “I have colleagues who have left the BBC in recent months because they just don’t believe our reporting on Israel and Palestine is honest. So many of us feel paralysed by the levels of fear.”

Another mentioned they had been “losing faith in the organisation [they] work for”, having seen a “huge disparity” within the BBC’s strategy in the direction of Israel. They added: “I genuinely care about the future of the BBC, and every day I see that we are losing the trust of audiences across the world.

“People are going elsewhere to find the reality of what is happening because we are simply not giving it to them.”

Examples given by employees embody “dehumanising and misleading headlines”, together with the one given to an article a couple of six-year-old lady who was shot to demise by the Israeli navy in Gaza in January 2024.

Speaking concerning the headline, “Hind Rajab, 6, found dead in Gaza days after phone calls for help”, a signatory of the letter mentioned: “This was not an act of God. The perpetrator, Israel, should have been in the headline, and it should have been clear that she was killed.”

Another colleague mentioned: “Palestinians are always treated as an unreliable source and we constantly give Israel’s version of events primacy despite the IDF’s well-documented track record of lying.

“We often seem to prefer to leave Israel out of the headline if at all possible or cast doubt on who could be to blame for airstrikes. The verification level expected for anything related to Gaza hugely outweighs what is the norm for other countries.”

Other issues raised by employees embody omissions of protection, such because the failure to reside broadcast South Africa’s genocide case in opposition to Israel on the International Court of Justice on 11 January however selecting to reside broadcast Israel’s defence the next day.

Of the 237 signatories, 72 have signed publicly, together with former UK overseas minister and broadcaster Baroness Warsi and Emma actor Juliet Stevenson, in addition to dozens of lecturers.

The letter, whereas specializing in the BBC, additionally highlights shortcomings in different media retailers together with ITV and Sky.

The BBC mentioned in response: “This conflict is one of the most polarising stories to report on, and we know people feel very strongly about how this is being reported, not only on the BBC but across all media. The BBC holds itself to very high standards, and we strive to live up to our responsibility to deliver the most trusted and impartial news – weighing and measuring the words we use, verifying facts, and seeking a wide range of interviews and expert opinion.”

While acknowledging that the “BBC does not and cannot reflect any single world view”, a spokesperson insisted that it receives an virtually equal measure of complaints asserting bias in the direction of Israel as bias in opposition to it.

They added: “This does not mean we assume we are doing something right, and we continue to listen to all criticism – from inside and outside the BBC – and reflect on what we can do better.”