The BBC’s response to the Asserson Report

Some seven weeks after the publication of the Asserson Report on BBC coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, the corporation published the following short response:

As we see, that 127 word response is similar to the initial statement provided by the BBC immediately after the report’s release:

“A BBC spokesman said: “We have serious questions about the methodology of this report, particularly its heavy reliance on AI to analyse impartiality, and its interpretation of the BBC’s editorial guidelines. We don’t think coverage can be assessed solely by counting particular words divorced from context.
“We are required to achieve due impartiality, rather than the ‘balance of sympathy’ proposed in the report, and we believe our knowledgeable and dedicated correspondents are achieving this, despite the highly complex, challenging and polarising nature of the conflict.

“However, we will consider the report carefully and respond directly to the authors once we have had time to study it in detail.””

To many, the BBC’s response will not come as much of a surprise, particularly in light of the statement put out on October 1st by the BBC’s CEO of News and Current Affairs in which she claimed that those expressing criticism of the corporation’s coverage do so “because it does not solely reflect their view of the conflict” and that “[t]hey are increasingly living in an information ecosystem that surrounds them with their own views and opinions”.

The BBC’s ongoing flippant dismissals of criticism only serve to highlight the need for an independent review of its adherence to the editorial standards of accuracy and impartiality that are the cornerstone of its contract with its funding public.

Related Articles:

PROPAGANDA, HATE SPEECH AND DISINFORMATION: THE BBC’S IDEA OF ‘A RANGE OF PERSPECTIVES’

LOOKING AT BBC CLAIMS OF ‘CONSTRAINTS’ ON REPORTING

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3 Comments

  1. says: Neil C

    Well if they would look back twenty years or so to the Balen report that the public paid for but they still dare not release the results of, the answer would be obvious even to a brainwashed BBC employee. When Jewish staff are complaining about their bias it should tell even the hard nosed bosses about their blatant bias and pro Iranian pro Islamic stance. #defundthebbc

  2. says: Ian Ashleigh

    Totally predictable response and apologies for my language but BBC = Biased Bullshit Continuously. Time to defund the BBC and make it subscription only

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