More than 100 BBC staff accuse the broadcaster of Israeli bias in its coverage of events in the Gaza Strip

More than 100 BBC staff accuse the corporation of providing favorable coverage of Israel and call on the broadcaster to “renew its commitment to fairness, accuracy and impartiality” in its reporting on the Gaza Strip.

The letter, sent to Tim Davey and signed by more than 230 media industry representatives, including 101 anonymous BBC employees, criticizes the corporation for failing to meet its own editorial standards by failing to provide “consistently fair and accurate, evidence-based journalism in its coverage of events.” Gaza.”

Saw exclusively IndependentThe letter, which was also signed by Saida Warsi and actress Juliet Stevenson, calls on the BBC to report events “without fear or favour” and to “commit to the highest editorial standards – with an emphasis on fairness, accuracy and due impartiality”. “

The letter also calls on the broadcaster to fulfill a number of editorial obligations, including “reiterating that Israel does not allow outside journalists access to Gaza; clarify when there is insufficient evidence to support Israeli claims; clarification in article headlines where Israel is to blame; including normal historical context prior to October 2023; and vigorously challenge Israeli government and military officials in all interviews.”

The BBC has denied the claims, insisting it is “committed to fulfilling its responsibility to provide the most reliable and impartial news possible”.

A spokesman said: “When we make mistakes or make changes to reports, we are transparent. We also make very clear to our audience the restrictions placed on our reporting, including no access to the Gaza Strip and limited access to parts of Lebanon, as well as our ongoing efforts to attract reporters to these areas.”

Other signatories on the list include historian William Dalrymple, Dr Catherine Happer, senior lecturer in sociology and director of media at the University of Glasgow, Rizwana Hamid, director of the Media Monitoring Centre, and broadcaster John Nicholson.

This is not the first time the BBC has been criticized for bias during the Gaza war. In September, the BBC denied claims it had broken its own rules more than 1,500 times following a controversial report that alleged some BBC correspondents condoned or downplayed Hamas activities. A BBC spokesman said at the time it would “carefully review” the research but denied claims of bias.

However, the letter’s signatories insist the bias is in favor of Israel. This was reported by a current employee who signed the letter. Independent that some of their colleagues left the corporation because of its coverage.

“I have never seen such low levels of staff trust in my entire career,” they said. “I have colleagues who have left the BBC in recent months because they simply don’t believe our reporting on Israel and Palestine is fair. Many of us feel paralyzed by the level of fear.”

Another said they were “losing faith in the organization (they) work for” after seeing the “huge inequality” in the BBC’s approach to Israel. They added: “I am genuinely concerned about the future of the BBC and every day I see that we are losing the trust of audiences around the world.

“People go somewhere else to find out the reality of what’s happening because we just don’t give it to them.”

Examples cited by staff included “inhumane and misleading headlines”, including the headline of an article about a six-year-old girl shot dead by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip in January 2024.

Speaking about the headline “Six-year-old Hind Rajab found dead in Gaza days after phone call for help,” one of the letter’s signatories said: “This was not a natural disaster. The perpetrator, Israel, should have been in the headline and it should have been clear that she was killed.”

Another colleague said: “The Palestinians are always treated as an unreliable source, and we continually favor the Israeli version of events, despite the IDF’s well-documented track record of lies.

“It seems like we often choose to keep Israel out of the headlines if at all possible, or question who might be to blame for the airstrikes. The level of scrutiny expected for anything Gaza-related far exceeds what is the norm in other countries.”

Other concerns raised by staff included lapses in coverage, such as the lack of live coverage of South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice on January 11, but the decision to livestream Israel’s defense the following day.

Of the 237 signatories, 72 signed publicly, including former British Foreign Secretary and TV presenter Baroness Warsi and Emma actor Juliet Stevenson, as well as dozens of scientists.

The letter, while focusing on the BBC, also highlights the shortcomings of other media outlets, including ITV and Sky.

The BBC said in response: “This conflict is one of the most controversial stories you can tell and we know people feel very strongly about how it is reported, not just on the BBC but across all media. The BBC is held to very high standards and we are committed to living up to our responsibility to provide the most trusted and impartial news possible by weighing and measuring the words we use, checking the facts and seeking a wide range of interviews and expert views.”

While acknowledging that “the BBC does not and cannot reflect any single world view,” the spokesman insisted that it receives almost as many complaints alleging bias against Israel as it does against it.

They added: “That doesn’t mean we think we’re doing anything right, and we continue to listen to all the criticism – from inside and outside the BBC – and reflect on what we can do better.”