Biased BBC

Updated:
few of the letters I have sent the BBC:

Dear Sir/ Madam,

The BBC has always been a great British institution and a model of effective, honest, impartial journalism.

During the BBC coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza the BBC as worldwide position has been under sever scrutiny due to some (or many) inaccurate reporting.  Over the last three weeks I have seen some good reporting and interviews, namely on NewsNight, but a lot of bad reporting that left in shock.

I would like to refer to two specific incidents, which are not isolated, to elaborate my point of view about the disgraceful BBC reporting of the conflict.

Yesterday, 28^th of July, at 11:13am the BBC reported this through the BBC Breaking News twitter account:

 “Blast killing at least 7 in a Gaza park caused by misfiring Hamas rocket- Israel Defense Forces tell BBC bbc.in/1nRjeER

This shows lack of impartiality but giving one side of the story as if it is the truth, also questions the BBC journalistic methodology in getting and publishing news stories. I have noticed that this story was later retrieved by the BBC, but without explanation or correction. But the impression it left that the BBC is now acting as it is the official spokesperson for the IDF, Are You?

Same thing happened later when the BBC reported the bombing of a hospital in Gaza, I would quote professor Ilan Pappe the British Israeli historian referring to the news story:

“Tonight the BBC has really turned into an arm of Israel’s embassy. Please bombard it with email, letters and phones. There must be a limit.
It adopted the Israeli lies about the Shifa hospital being hit by Hamas rocket. Every other reporter collected enough evidence about the Israeli drone firing the rockets. At least state that there are two narratives. This one sided support has turned the BBC into a joke. Please people let them hear it from you in every possible way!”

Again, BBC is publishing and broadcasting the IDF messages without questioning or highlighting such statements as “allegations” or “claims” not the Truth. I am not a journalist, but I can refer you to the NBC coverage (Twitter feed) of the story and you might learn something:

“UPDATE: IDF says air strike that hit near Gaza hospital was not Israeli; NBC News journalists witnessing the bombing said it was Israeli drone.”

I find it shameful that the oldest and biggest media corporation in the world that lead the way for decades in exploring and finding the truth is failing drastically in basic news reporting.

It is sad to see the creditability of the BBC questioned by its wide audience, we have witnessed many large and small protests taking place outside the BBC centres around the UK and now we are seeing a lot of widely respected intellectuals criticising the BBC.

I hope the BBC can address these issues and learn from these mistakes.

Regards

Ahmad Baker

on response to an article on their website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28371966

Dear BBC,
you have publish a long article under a misleading title and including misleading information. the recent crisis and war in Gaza was started by Israel, not Hamas:
this is reuters report confirming that Israel started the offences and military attack without any rocket attacks.
I hope that you can correct this mistake and apologies for misleading the public.
regards
Ahmad

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/01/us-palestinians-israel-strike-idUSKBN0F638Q2014070





on response to this article and other news reports:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28245343


Dear BBC,
in you repot on Hamas rockets you have used a map and information produced by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) as part of its propaganda, but you have not mention the source neither the credibility of that source.
this is not the first time as you have used IDF material in your reporting of the number of rockets fallen on Israel but you did not say that the information cannot be independently verified.
regards
Ahmad



on their coverage of events on Monday the 21st:
Dear BBC,
I have few questions about your coverage of the crisis in Gaza and they are very specific to the report you have broadcasted on Monday 21.07.2014.

1. Is the BBC part of the conflict? the BBC have interviewed a top Israeli official: Justice Minster Livni to argue the Israeli case and justifications, but on the Gaza side it was only Lyse Doucet (BBC reporter) representing the other side of the story. Hams, PLO, and Palestinian Authority have many officials appearing on other news channels but not the BBC! is this balanced reporting?
in the same report John Simpson mentioned the total number killed Israeli soldiers on that day and during the whole crisis, stressing the heavy price of war, but he and Lyse Doucet failed to mention the total number of killed Palestinians on that day and total number killed so far! is this balanced reporting?
Lyse Doucet reported the attack on the hospital, but included the Israeli claimed that weapons are stored nearby, but failed to verify such a claim, provide Palestinian view of such accusation, or just report that there was no evidence of weapons in the hospital.

in the report John Simpson has "mouthed" the Israeli claimed regarding the tunnels without clarifying that the wording and information are based on IDF propaganda material. 

I hope these points are addressed and I look forward to your response.

regards
Ahmad