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Open letter accuses BBC board member of having a conflict of interest on Gaza

theguardian.com

61–70 of 434 posts

Re: Open letter accuses BBC board member of having a conflict of interest on Gaza

#61
post #5

Sadly it seems like this is indicative of a broader trend in Public Broadcast in the west. In Australia we've seen similar internal criticism of the ABC of an anti-palestinian bias in reporting[1]. It's deeply concerning that these publicly funded media outlets are being co-opted and manipulated by a foreign power. [1] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/26/australias-abc-staf...

[flagged]

>Wanting Israel to exist because the world has shown it will not allow Jews to be safe anywhere else does not make someone manipulated by a foreign power.

Is this an alt account? This is basically the exact wording as another comment flagged minutes ago.

Re: Open letter accuses BBC board member of having a conflict of interest on Gaza

#63
post #40
post #35

The BBC having 21,000 employees (5500 journalists). Only 100 signed. From my perspective the BBC is extremely anti-Israeli but for some people this is obviously not good enough. They want the BBC to champion their cause. Naturally people supporting the anti-Israeli cause who only get anti-Israeli content will feel that the BBC is "pro" Israel. Nothing could be farther from the truth and Pro-Israeli media looks nothin…

That definition of Terrorism would make Israel a terrorist state.

[flagged]

Re: Open letter accuses BBC board member of having a conflict of interest on Gaza

#64
post #35

The BBC having 21,000 employees (5500 journalists). Only 100 signed. From my perspective the BBC is extremely anti-Israeli but for some people this is obviously not good enough. They want the BBC to champion their cause. Naturally people supporting the anti-Israeli cause who only get anti-Israeli content will feel that the BBC is "pro" Israel. Nothing could be farther from the truth and Pro-Israeli media looks nothin…

> "The term "terrorism" should accordingly be used in respect of relevant events since it is the most accurate expression for actions which involve violence against randomly selected civilians with the intention of causing terror for ideological, including political or religious, objectives, whether perpetrated by state or non-state agencies." I have never heard the BBC accuse the Israeli settlers of terrorism agains…

If it meets the definition then they should.

Re: Open letter accuses BBC board member of having a conflict of interest on Gaza

#65
post #28

I'm starting to realize, very belatedly in life, that we suffer from an end-of-history illusion in politics and political economy. I used to think we live in a golden age because a hundred years ago, democracy broadly replaced monarchies, market economies replaced feudalism and other coercive systems, and with it went many of the old, indirect mechanisms of subjugating large populations (e.g. moral imperatives throug…

We are going up, slowly, in health, literacy, education - globally. But, like all progress, it is up up and down, then again up up and down. Thanks to retro grades like Putin and Trump. As to health indenture -that form of slavery is primarily in USA. Most other countries have figured it out. I agree with hope for the future though. Star Trek, not Star Wars!

Re: Open letter accuses BBC board member of having a conflict of interest on Gaza

#66

I read the article but not sure which pro Israeli editorials the BBC has published. My experience is quite the opposite with BBC having a clear anti war stance.

"Comprehensive new research finds the BBC coverage of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza is systematically biased against Palestinians and fails to reach standards of impartiality. Analysis of more than 35,000 pieces of BBC content by the Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM) shows Israeli deaths are given 33 times more coverage per fatality, and both broadcast segments and articles included clear double standards. BBC cont…

The self-described mission of the Centre For Media Monitoring is "Promoting Fair And Responsible Reporting Of Muslims And Islam", so they might be slightly biased...

Re: Open letter accuses BBC board member of having a conflict of interest on Gaza

#67
post #5

Sadly it seems like this is indicative of a broader trend in Public Broadcast in the west. In Australia we've seen similar internal criticism of the ABC of an anti-palestinian bias in reporting[1]. It's deeply concerning that these publicly funded media outlets are being co-opted and manipulated by a foreign power. [1] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/26/australias-abc-staf...

I don’t think the country of Israel is explicitly doing the manipulating, I think one country’s allies are just statistically richer and more influential than the other

In the case of Australia you're correct in that it's not Israel reaching into Australia to alter opinion.

What is the case (in a many layered complex fabric) is that Australian Jewish groups have both actively pushed a narrative and worked hard to discredit any inkling of voice given to Palenstine by the public broadcaster that does work hard to be in the vicinity of neutral.

For better or worse they have gamed the Australian media system in their favour.

This recently hit the Federal Court of Australia which determined that (former) ABC executives (senior staff of the public broadcaster) caved to a pressure campaign to fire a radio broadcaster who tweeted a link to a Human Rights Watch report (that was unfavourable to Isreal) "in her own time" (not on the public clock and not contrary to any employment agreement).

Court Documents: https://www.fedcourt.gov.au/services/access-to-files-and-tra...

Extensive other reporting elsewhere.

Re: Open letter accuses BBC board member of having a conflict of interest on Gaza

#68
The world has been a sad state of affairs since Covid. People in power need more power for themselves, view the world as a zero sum game, use coercion, deceiving, propaganda to achieve their goals, in this case a territorial expansion. Anyone who opposes the means it's currently being carried out is a anti-.... whatever.

Re: Open letter accuses BBC board member of having a conflict of interest on Gaza

#69
post #5

Sadly it seems like this is indicative of a broader trend in Public Broadcast in the west. In Australia we've seen similar internal criticism of the ABC of an anti-palestinian bias in reporting[1]. It's deeply concerning that these publicly funded media outlets are being co-opted and manipulated by a foreign power. [1] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/26/australias-abc-staf...

[flagged]

It's possible to believe that both October 7th and the subsequent genocide of Palestinians are horrific.

It's the duty of the press to report on these horrors in an unbiased and impartial manner.

> You few bleeding heart lefties

Ad hominems aren't arguments, fyi

Re: Open letter accuses BBC board member of having a conflict of interest on Gaza

#70
post #56

Coming from an outsider, the letter is frustratingly vague. The only concrete allegation is the pulling of the documentary "Gaza: Medics Under Fire", but without a statement from BBC explaining why they pulled it, it's basically impossible from an outsider to know whether censorship is indeed happening or not. The rest of the letter basically down to a he-said-she-said over bias/censorship happening. Owen's article d…

"Instead, the report says, the BBC’s coverage has involved the systematic dehumanisation of Palestinians and unquestioning acceptance of Israeli PR. This has allegedly been overseen by BBC Middle East Editor and apparent Binyamin Netanyahu admirer, Raffi Berg, who is accused by anonymous journalists of “micromanaging” the section." - https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/bbc-impartiality-trust-isra...

"Comprehensive new research finds the BBC coverage of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza is systematically biased against Palestinians and fails to reach standards of impartiality.

Analysis of more than 35,000 pieces of BBC content by the Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM) shows Israeli deaths are given 33 times more coverage per fatality, and both broadcast segments and articles included clear double standards. BBC content was found to consistently shut down allegations of genocide." - https://novaramedia.com/2025/06/16/bbc-systematically-biased...

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