The BBC’s Jon Donnison and impartiality

The BBC’s Editorial Guidelines on impartiality (section 4.4.13) state: [emphasis added]

“Presenters, reporters and correspondents are the public face and voice of the BBC – they can have a significant impact on perceptions of whether due impartiality has been achieved.  Our audiences should not be able to tell from BBC output the personal prejudices of our journalists or news and current affairs presenters on matters of public policy, political or industrial controversy, or on ‘controversial subjects’ in any other area.  They may provide professional judgements, rooted in evidence, but may not express personal views in BBC output, including online, on such matters.”

Here is a recent Tweet from the BBC’s Gaza correspondent Jon Donnison

This is Donnison’s rather terse reply to someone who queries the statement “In terms of casualties Pals [sic] come of [sic] worse”. 

Here is another recent Donnison Tweet:

Oh dear! Surely Donnison cannot be suggesting that Israel is employing the Iron Dome missile defence system in order to impress the American visitors? Not only is that obviously ridiculous – the Iron Dome is deployed every time there is a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza whether there happen to be guests in the region or not – but it also crudely implies that Israel brought about the latest rocket barrage in order to have something to show the Americans.

It almost sounds as though Donnison has been reading ‘one-stater’ Ali Abunimah’s latest odious ‘Electronic Intifada’ article on Israelis “whining” about rockets.

Oh wait…

So who else – besides Abunimah – does the BBC’s Gaza correspondent turn to for reading material on the Middle East? 

And, although Donnison’s Twitter profile includes the usual “Rewteets #Tags not endorsements” caveat, who does he choose to quote and which viewpoints does he elect to promote? 

Some might say that by now they have a pretty good idea of the flavour of Donnison’s “personal views”.  

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