BBC Music promotes falsehoods and BDS campaign website

h/t ML

BBC Music runs a webpage called ‘Music News LIVE’ which can be found on the BBC Music website or accessed via the BBC News website’s ‘Entertainment & Arts’ page.

The February 9th edition of ‘Music News LIVE’ – compiled by Paul Glynn – ran under the headline “Controversy over Radiohead gig in Israel“.

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A similar headline – linking to that page – appeared on the BBC News website’s ‘Entertainment & Arts’ page.

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BBC audiences were told of a fictional “industry boycott” and mythical “industry rules” while a link was provided to a (misspelled) website which is part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.bbc-music-radiohead-1 

“Never ones to play by the industry rules, Radiohead have announced plans to play a gig in Tel Aviv, Israel on 19 July.

Many bands have been urged to avoid performing in Israel in protest of the country’s occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The NME notes, however, that guitarist Jonny Greenwood is married to Israeli artist Sharona Katan and recently released a collaborative album with Israeli composer Shye Ben Tzur.

Former Pink Floyd singer Roger Waters last year joined a host of artists in writing an open letter on behalf of Artists for Palenstine UK [sic] urging British DJs The Chemical Brothers to pull out of a show in Israel.

The Radiohead announcement will be viewed by many as controversial – and it has already sparked conjecture online.”

That, of course, is not ‘music news’: it is amplification of a political campaign – which clearly compromises BBC impartiality while the promotion of the link to a site which is part of the BDS campaign fails to meet the corporation’s guidelines on “Online Links to Third Party Websites“.

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