In late August we documented the appearance a BBC News website report which failed to fully inform readers with regard to the organisational affiliations of five terror operatives who were eliminated in an attack on an operations room in Nur Shams on August 26th:
BBC NEWS WEBSITE PRIORITISES SPEED OVER ACCURACY AND IMPARTIALITY
CAMERA UK submitted a complaint concerning that report in which we pointed out that while its updated version accurately informed readers that “Jibril Jibril was a member of Hamas”, it did not tell them that Mohannad Qarawi was a member of the same organisation or that the other three males killed in the same strike – including two minors – were claimed by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
CAMERA UK supplied the BBC with links to relevant documentation, including the PIJ’s statement, and made the following request:
“Please amend this report to inform BBC audiences that all five of those killed in Nur Shams on August 26th were active members of terrorist organisations proscribed by the British government. Some coverage of the practice of recruitment of minors by Palestinian terrorist organisations – a topic regularly ignored by the BBC – would also enhance audience understanding of why “children” are killed during counter-terrorism operations.”
On September 6th we were informed that it would take the BBC more time to address our complaint and on September 27th we were told that the timeframe for doing so had expired.
On November 21st we received the following communication from an unidentified “journalist in the newsroom”:
“Thank you for getting in touch with your concerns. I am a journalist in the newsroom who reviews website complaints.
I have contacted the relevant team who have double checked the sources. We have since added a line to the story to state that Mohannad Qarawi was also identified as a Hamas member.
However with regards to the other three people who died, it is my understanding that they were not officially affiliated with any group.
We have added an update note at the bottom of the story for transparency.
I’d like to thank you once again for taking the time to write to us. We value your feedback which we have shared with senior managers.”
The relevant part of that August 27th report by Robert Greenall now reads:
“Jibril Jibril was a member of Hamas who had been released from an Israeli prison in November as part of an exchange for Israeli hostages held in Gaza, according to the Palestinian reports. Mohannad Qarawi was also identified as a Hamas member.”
The footnote appended to the report reads as follows:
CAMERA UK has submitted a Stage 1b complaint requesting a further amendment to clarify that “the other three people who died” were claimed by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, one of whom that organisation described as a field commander in its Tulkarem Battalion.
BBC have lost the thread – the rope is slake and the ship is sinking rapidly !