BBC In Gaza Aid Row

The BBC Refuses To Broadcast An Appeal For Aid

This story appeared in todays English Independent:

BBC under pressure over Gaza emergency appeal
By Andrew Woodcock and Wesley Johnson, PA
Saturday, 24 January 2009

The BBC came under mounting pressure today to screen an emergency appeal for Gaza, after ITV, Channel 4 and Five all announced they will show it.
Thousands of protesters joined a demonstration in London, while a string of politicians, including senior Government ministers, urged the BBC to reconsider its decision not to broadcast the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal.

The DEC - which brings together several major aid charities including the British Red Cross, Save the Children and Oxfam - wants the appeal to be broadcast on TV and radio from Monday to help raise millions of pounds for people in need of food, medicines and shelter following Israel's three-week assault on the Palestinian territory. DEC chief executive Brendan Gormley has voiced disappointment at the BBC's decision.

BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons voiced concern that comments made by politicians today were coming close to "undue interference" in the BBC's editorial independence.
He said that the judgment on whether the broadcast should be shown was not for the Trust, which oversees the Corporation on behalf of the public, but for the BBC's senior editorial executives, led by director general Mark Thompson.

Mr Thompson last night rejected a plea from International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander to screen the appeal, warning that a broadcast could compromise the impartiality of the BBC's reporting from the Palestinian territory.

"After consultation with senior news editors, we concluded that to broadcast a free-standing appeal, no matter how carefully couched, ran the risk of calling into question the public's confidence in the BBC's impartiality in its coverage of the story as a whole," he said.

But his argument was dismissed as "completely feeble" by health minister Ben Bradshaw, while Communities Secretary Hazel Blears called on the BBC to review its decision and urged the public to continue donating to the DEC appeal.

Britain's first Muslim minister Shahid Malik warned that the Corporation's decision would be seen around the world as "one which inflicts still further misery on the beleaguered and suffering people of Gaza".


Former Labour minister Tony Benn told the crowd: "People are dying in Gaza and if the appeal was made they would get the resources they need.
"It's not about the BBC. Millions of pounds will be raised by an appeal. People who are dying in Gaza would get the materials and supplies they need."

The clip below is an interview with Tony Benn from BBC News 24 (before ITV, Channel 4, and Channel Five decided to broadcast the DEC appeal)

Caption: Video Id: ix5CkWWeSmI Type: Youtube Video
Embedded video Youtube Video