On April 24th the BBC’s senior international correspondent Orla Guerin tweeted the following:
As can be seen, that graphic was created by the NGO ‘Save the Children UK’ and was part of a publicity campaign on various social media platforms which Guerin apparently found fit to promote despite BBC guidance on social media use which includes the following:
As can also be seen, that graphic states that it is based on data published at The Lancet which relates to the time period between October 2023 and September 2024.
The article concerned was published at the Lancet in early February 2025, with media coverage beginning in late January. It is unclear why ‘Save the Children’ decided to promote it only three months later.
Neither ‘Save the Children’ nor Guerin appear to be concerned by the fact that the claim promoted in that graphic relates to a specific time period – with casualty rates having since dropped – or that the article is based on questionable data provided by the terrorist organisation which began the war.
This is not the first case in which Guerin has chosen to ignore BBC guidelines concerning impartiality:
BBC JOURNALISTS IGNORE IMPARTIALITY GUIDELINES TO SIGN CAMPAIGN LETTER
Neither is she by any means the only BBC journalist to have done so.
When the current BBC director general Tim Davie took up his post in September 2020, the corporation published several reports about his supposed clamp down on breaches of impartiality guidelines on social media, one of which included the following:
“The top priority would be to “renew our commitment to impartiality”, he [Davie] said.
Impartiality is “the very essence of who we are” and is possible to achieve even in polarised times.
“It is not simply about left or right. This is more about whether people feel we see the world from their point of view. Our research shows that too many perceive us to be shaped by a particular perspective.”
He added: “If you want to be an opinionated columnist or a partisan campaigner on social media then that is a valid choice, but you should not be working at the BBC.”
New social media guidelines for presenters and staff will be “rigorously enforced”, he said.”
Over four and a half years on, members of the BBC’s funding public may be less than impressed by that ‘rigorous enforcement’.
Lies, damn lies, and NGO statistics on Gaza …
I still fondly remember some critic’s comment on Guerin, that she has a voice that would freeze marble.