BBC reporters in Britain claim to be so conscious of impartiality that they refuse to describe Hamas butcherers as “terrorists.” Yet some of the corporation’s Middle East journalists have backed Hamas and hailed attacks on Israel as “a morning of hope.”
Reports over the weekend pointed to instances of British taxpayer-funded journalists likening Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist group (albeit not by the BBC), to freedom fighters. The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA) accused seven reporters, including one senior journalist, of displaying an anti-Israel bias.
CAMERA, cited in The Daily Mail, pointed to workers liking messages describing footage of kidnapped people as a “proud moment” and declaring that Israelis “will live as a thief and a usurper.”
The Daily Telegraph also pointed to a senior correspondent who “appeared to make fun of the Israeli relatives of a grandmother who was abducted by Hamas.” It added that numerous complaints have been levelled against BBC Arabic regarding bias and inaccuracy.
The BBC insists it is “committed to achieving due impartiality in all its output” (emphasis added), not just in that aired in Britain.
Its officials were quick to declare that they would take the issue seriously. The corporation said in a statement:
We are urgently investigating this matter. We take allegations of breaches of our editorial and social media guidelines with the utmost seriousness, and if and when we find breaches we will act, including taking disciplinary action.
All of the seven reporters are understood to have been taken off air during the course of this investigation.
CAMERA responded that, despite its lofty claims about keeping tags on all output, BBC management is “not familiar and can’t oversee properly” its Arabic content. But more attention is likely to be paid in the coming weeks and months, especially given that parliament is also now keeping tabs on the BBC’s next steps, with the chair of the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee insisting:
Language matters and it’s vital that media coverage of the heartbreaking events in Israel and Gaza are covered with the utmost sensitivity and impartiality by all journalists, especially our public service broadcasters.
