MEDIA BIAS
Charming:BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen has admitted in an analysis article for the BBC News website that the recent strain in relations between Israel and the US has been ‘enjoyable’. In ‘Analysis: Bleak climate for Mid-East talks,’ published on Sunday 9 May, the head of Middle East coverage at the BBC examined the background to the recent resumption of (indirect) talks between Israel and the Palestinians. In an undeniably candid move, Bowen wrote the following: ‘It has been an unusual and enjoyable new experience to be able to look on as the Israelis argued with their most important ally. The fact that the dispute is over Jewish settlements is even better for the Palestinian [sic].’
In fairness, it’s not like this tool’s anti-Israel animus gets in the way of editorial honesty. There was definitely that one time last month where they published a Hamas-sourced story about a 15 year old having been shot to death by Israeli troops, and then the boy turned out to have been neither shot nor dead, and then they published a brief followup acknowledging as much three days later. How could that be seen as anything but legacy journalism at its finest? Although I don’t know if they ever took back the stuff about one out of every six Jews being engaged in a Mossad murder conspiracy. So maybe we shouldn’t rush to judgment on their objectivity.
The BBC, by the by, regularly comes under fire in Britain for being too pro-Israel. Their own board of governors has complained that they’re biased in favor of the Jewish State. In 2008 protesters glued themselves to the entrances of BBC offices to protest the outlet’s ostensibly anti-Hamas tilt. And the constant pressure certainly works, as it did last year when the BBC was successfully intimidated into scrubbing out evidence of antisemitic incitement at anti-Israel protests.
But with professionals like Bowen at the very top, doesn’t it kind of seem like a waste of energy?
References:
* Jeremy Bowen admits enjoying rupture in Israel-US relations [Just Journalism]
* UPDATED: (Some) Media Backtrack After “Dead” Palestinian Teen Emerges Alive [CAMERA]
* BBC broadcast: ‘One million Jews help Mossad’ [Telegraph]
* BBC Board Of Governors: BBC Is Too Pro-Israel. [Mere Rhetoric]
* Protesters against BBC Gaza coverage glue themselves to entrance barriers [Wales Online]
* “Jew-ish”? [Harry's Place]
* Jeremy Bowen admits enjoying rupture in Israel-US relations [Just Journalism]
* UPDATED: (Some) Media Backtrack After “Dead” Palestinian Teen Emerges Alive [CAMERA]
* BBC broadcast: ‘One million Jews help Mossad’ [Telegraph]
* BBC Board Of Governors: BBC Is Too Pro-Israel. [Mere Rhetoric]
* Protesters against BBC Gaza coverage glue themselves to entrance barriers [Wales Online]
* “Jew-ish”? [Harry's Place]
With thanks to Mere Rhetoric.
