BBC: a reply to my complaint

The BBC replied to my email complaint regarding the Gaza appeal. A nondescript crap standard response from the top brass at the BBC that exposes cowardice along with no backbone or integrity. Shame on the BBC!

Btw: I didn’t see the email response as it ended up in my spam box. Says it all….!!

Thank you for your e-mail.

We note your disappointment at our decision not to broadcast an appeal by the Disasters Emergency Committee to raise funds for Gaza.

We decided not to broadcast the DEC’s public appeal because we wished to avoid any risk of compromising public confidence in the BBC’s impartiality in the context of covering a continuing news story where issues of responsibility for civilian suffering and distress are intrinsic to the story and remain highly contentious. We also could not be confident that the aid resulting from audience donations could reach those it was intended for at a time of a fragile ceasefire and sporadic border access. We will of course continue to report the humanitarian story in Gaza.

The BBC’s director-general Mark Thompson has therefore explained the decision in more detail in a number of television and radio broadcasts and online at our Editors’ blog. Please follow the link to read his explanation in full:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2009/01/bbc_and_the_gaza_appeal.html

Please be assured that we have registered your comments on our audience log.  This is the internal report of audience feedback which we compile daily for all programme makers and commissioning executives within the BBC, and also their senior management.  It ensures that your points, and all other comments we receive, are circulated and considered across the BBC.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to contact us.

Regards

BBC Complaints
____________________________
www.bbc.co.uk/complaints

Letter to BBC over Gaza appeal

Letter to Mark Thompson, Director-General of the BBC from the NUJ and Bectu over Gaza appeal:

Mark Thomspon
Director General
BBC
London

26 January 2009

Dear Mark

We are writing to express our concern at the decision of the BBC to refuse free airtime to the DEC for its national humanitarian appeal for Gaza.

The BBC’s stance will seriously hinder the DEC in getting its message across to the British public. The humanitarian crisis, in which innocent children are suffering, is likely to be prolonged as a result of the Corporation’s decision.

The justifications given for the decision – - ‘question marks about the delivery of aid in a volatile situation’ and risks of compromising its ‘impartiality in the context of an ongoing news story’ – appear to us cowardly and in danger of being seen as politically motivated and biased in favour of Israel.

We, above all, understand the BBC’s need to maintain editorial impartiality and we also understand the pressure journalists and the BBC comes under from those who accuse the BBC of bias in reporting the Middle East.

That said we agree with those senior BBC journalists who say this is a decision taken as a result of timidity by BBC management in the face of such pressures – Tim Llewellyn described this as ‘institutional cowardice’.

Far from avoiding the compromise of the BBC’s impartiality, this move has breached those same BBC rules by showing a bias in favour of Israel at the expense of 1. 5 million Palestinian civilians suffering an acute humanitarian crisis. The Myanmar cyclone appeal was broadcast in May 2008 in spite of ‘an ongoing news story’ involving the government of Burma. Why should Israel be treated differently?

Our members feel this makes the BBC appear pro-Israeli and indifferent to the plight of the victims of this conflict.

As a result of the three year blockade and the three week bombing campaign Gaza is enduring immense suffering. Launching the DEC appeal Brendan Gormley said: “Over 1, 300 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, and many thousands have been injured, overwhelming local hospitals. The destruction has left people without homes and many children without schooling; power, food and water supplies are insufficient to cover the population’s needs…Agencies are already providing food, drugs and blankets as well as delivering clean water…. but we will soon reach the limit of what we can do, without more money. For Gazans struggling to survive, receiving urgent humanitarian aid will help them take the first step to recovery.”

How can airing such an appeal risk compromising the BBC’s impartiality?

We believe the BBC’s decision not to show the appeal is wrong and we urge you to reconsider.

Yours sincerely

Gerry Morrissey, General Secretary, BECTU
Jeremy Dear, General Secretary, NUJ

Ceasefire? What ceasefire…

The Israel Air Force attacked smuggling tunnels under Gaza’s  border with Egypt. The Israeli State say it is in retaliation to a bomb being detonated that killed an IDF tracker.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned of a “further response” to the attack.

What the IDF did today was not a response but a preliminary action,” he said at a meeting of ministry directors general. A further response to this serious incident will be forthcoming.

The security cabinet is to meet Wednesday to discuss security projects, but the situation in Gaza might also be discussed.

Olmert, noting that he had termed the cease-fire “fragile,” also said: “We don’t even call it a cease-fire but a holding of fire in the face of Hamas infractions, so that we can retain the IDF’s freedom of action.”

Defense Minister Ehud Barak decided to strike Hamas targets in response to the death of the tracker.

We do not intend to gloss over incidents like these,” Barak said. “We will not let Hamas and its outgrowths continue their hostile acts of terror. Anyone who hits us will have to absorb a serious blow in the future, too.