The Arabic-language version of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has been forced to correct over 100 stories a year about the war in Gaza, The Telegraph reported Monday.
Two top BBC officials, Director General Tim Davie and CEO of News Deborah Turness, resigned on Monday after a dossier by Michael Prescott, a former external advisor to the network’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee, detailing instances of bias was leaked to the Telegraph. A total of 215 stories about the conflict that began with the October 7, 2023, attack by the radical Islamic terrorist group Hamas that killed 1,200 people were “were found to be biased, inaccurate or misleading,” according to The Telegraph.
The dossier, which also accused the BBC of doctoring video of President Donald Trump’s speech on Jan. 6, 2021, to make it appear he incited the riot at the Capitol building, said the state-funded outlet regularly minimized the suffering of Israelis during the conflict. In one instance, BBC Arabic described some Israeli hostages as being “guarded” by members of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.
“You would think having to issue so many corrections would raise red flags that there was a problem, but Tim Davie has failed to sort it out. Global news director Jonathan Munro refuses to accept anything is wrong,” Danny Cohen, a former director of BBC Television, told the Telegraph. “In fact, he said BBC Arabic’s reporters are an ‘unrivalled source of knowledge and editorial content for the wider BBC’. This is deeply concerning and speaks volumes about the BBC’s failings during the Israel-Hamas war.”
The BBC operates under a Royal Charter and is funded through a license fee paid by members of the public, according to its website.
The outlet is also under fire for platforming journalists who expressed antisemitic views, including one who called the perpetrator of a mass shooting at a synagogue a “hero,” who made 217 appearances on BBC Arabic. Another journalist who called Jews “devils” made over 500 appearances on the outlet.
“BBC News Arabic strives for the highest standards of journalism across its services. Whenever mistakes are made or clarifications are needed, we take action to ensure clarity and accuracy for our audiences,” a BBC spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The Executive Complaints Unit works outside of BBC News and assesses complaints independently.”
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