Gaza, (Pal Telegraph) - Three serious complaints made against a BBC programme which purported to tell the story of Israel ’s attack on the Gaza aid flotilla last year have been upheld at the highest level.
Despite a highly unsatisfactory internal process, with the BBC's own Editorial Standards Committee ruling on a BBC programme, Panorama’s Death on the Med, the Committee ruled that the programme broadcast in August 2010, had breached the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines on accuracy and impartiality on three counts. The decision of the Committee to rule against the other points of complaint underlined why an independent, external complaints process is essential.
The committee found that the Panorama team had failed to make use of autopsies showing how nine Turkish aid workers on board the largest boat in the flotilla, the Mavi Marmara, were killed by Israeli commandos and the level of violence used against them, even though this was fundamental in considering the motives of Israel in storming the boat.
It also found that the programme should not have dismissed medicines being carried on the Mavi Marmara as out of date, which suggested the rest of the aid was worthless, and that it failed to mention other valuable aid that was being carried.
The programme also failed to mention that many of the activists wounded by Israeli troops did not receive treatment for hours and that many of the passengers were seriously mistreated by Israeli commandos.
Nearly 2,000 people contacted the BBC after the programme was aired last year, and of those, around 1,440 made contact in order to complain about bias and inaccuracy.
The complaints process has taken eight months, with the final appeal being heard by the BBC in March. The decision taken by the Editorial Standards Committee was published yesterday (19 April).
Sarah Colborne, Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which has been closely involved in the complaints process, said: ‘This has been a long and not entirely transparent process, with the BBC changing the goalposts along the way and setting sudden deadlines.
‘However, the BBC needed to be brought to account for making a programme that was shocking in its inaccuracy and impartiality. Israeli commandos attacked unarmed civilians in international waters and, if Panorama had used the information available in the autopsies and reported on the mistreatment of other passengers, then the full extent of Israel's aggression would have been made clear.'
Ms Colborne also called for the complaints process to be freed from BBC control. She added: 'We need the appointment of an independent adjudicator to examine complaints against the BBC and make sure the organisation learns from its transgressions. This will never happen while the BBC is its own judge and jury.’
The BBC’s findings in full:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/appeals/esc_bulletins/2011/death_in_med.pdf
FULL ARTICLE HERE
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