EXCLUSIVE: When the BBC admits to making editorial errors in its coverage of the Gaza conflict, its mistakes are overwhelmingly skewing against Israeli interests, according to new analysis from Deadline.
The British broadcaster has formally apologized at least 12 times for meaningful editorial blunders since October 7, with eight of those apologies being made for output that could be considered anti-Israel or pro-Palestine in nature. The remaining four apologies went in the other direction.
The most recent of these apologies was made last week in relation to Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone, which was removed from iPlayer after a string of concerns were raised about the documentary, including that its main subject was not declared as being the son of a Hamas minister.
The film, produced by independent production company HOYO Films, has reignited deep tensions over the BBC’s output on the Gaza crisis, with the corporation accused of institutional bias by both Israeli and Palestinian sympathizers.
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Mistakes over the past 18 months have been keenly felt by both sides and been seized upon to accuse the BBC of partisanship, even though the corporation protests that these are nothing more than errors made in chronicling a complex and fast-developing conflict.
In a statement, the BBC said it was committed to covering the war impartially, adding that it was “unclear what conclusions can be drawn from this data” about mistakes.
The British Jewish community has been vocal in its concerns, with prominent industry figures like Danny Cohen, the BBC’s former television chief, arguing that there is evidence of anti-Israel bias at the BBC and that “deep-rooted prejudice” is seeding antisemitism.
The Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone admission was the second time the BBC has apologized this year. The corporation previously said sorry for a Radio 5 Live broadcast in January, during which a correspondent in Jerusalem described Palestinian prisoners in Israel as “hostages.”
Other notable apologies included the corporation acknowledging last year that BBC London News wrongly described a Palestine protest as a “vigil” at a cinema screening of a film documenting Hamas’ Nova festival massacre. In 2023, the BBC said sorry after reporter Jon Donnison speculated that Israel was behind the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital bombing.
Palestinian sympathizers have pointed to other missteps in drawing their own conclusions. This includes the BBC apologizing after the news channel described people taking part in marches in support of Palestine as backing Hamas, and for repeatedly overstating the October 7 death toll. BBC News added a correction to at least 64 online stories, saying it had incorrectly interpreted Israeli data.
Executive Complaints Unit Rulings
The BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU), which is tasked with investigating audience concerns over impartiality and accuracy, has ruled on six Gaza-related editorial breaches since the Hamas attack on Israel.
Five of these concerned coverage that was anti-Israel or pro-Palestine. These included Donnison’s report on the hospital bombing, as well as other examples, such as a Lebanese civilian not being sufficiently challenged when she described Israel as “a terrorist state” on Radio 5 Live.
In the one ruling on output perceived as being favorable to the Israeli agenda, the ECU said that an online BBC News article omitted relevant information about how Israel’s actions in Gaza had contributed to food insecurity in the region. Oxfam has accused Israel of “deliberately blocking and/or undermining the international humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip.”
Cohen, who now runs film financier Access Entertainment, told Deadline: “This analysis is very clear. The vast majority of complaints and corrections by the BBC have been in relation to anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian reporting. The BBC must ask itself why so many of these errors are in one direction. With every day that passes the BBC’s failures of impartiality are becoming more and more evident. It’s time for someone in the BBC’s senior leadership to accept they have a problem and get a grip.”
There are others, however, who believe that the BBC is admitting to more mistakes over Israel because the nation’s supporters are better organized when it comes to pointing out missteps. A filmmaker, who wished to remain anonymous, said these individuals “have an agenda” and some are seeking to minimize the fact that “people have been displaced, killed, and bombed into oblivion in Gaza.”
Only this week, Karishma Patel, a journalist who now works with The Britain Palestine Media Centre, revealed that concerns over the BBC’s coverage of Israel were a reason for her quitting BBC News last year.
“I left @BBCNews last year after covering Gaza for months because I could see evidence accumulating into the robust conclusion that Israel has been committing war crimes & crimes against humanity,” she wrote on X/Twitter. “I watched my org fail to shape coverage around this, as it does with other evidence-based findings (e.g. that climate change is real). We are long past the point at which Israel’s culpability is up for debate.”
In a statement, the BBC said: “We are committed to covering this polarising conflict impartially and to maintaining the highest standards of journalism. Across the breadth of our output, when mistakes are made, we transparently acknowledge and correct them.
“When complaints are made, we have a well-established and robust process in place, which includes the Executive Complaints Unit, to ensure the BBC is accountable for its programming. It’s unclear what conclusions can be drawn from this data. The Executive Complaints Unit focuses on a small proportion of complaints when the complainant chooses to escalate beyond the first responses’ they have received.”
The post BBC Gaza Output: Editorial Errors Consistently Skewing Against Israel Amid ‘How To Survive A War Zone’ Debacle appeared first on Deadline.
