Latest news with #Gaza:MedicsUnderFire
Middle East Eye
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Middle East Eye
BBC drops film about Gaza doctors after delaying its broadcast for months
The BBC has announced it has dropped a film about doctors working in Gaza after delaying its broadcast for months. The documentary, Gaza: Medics Under Fire, was ready to broadcast in February but was pulled because of a scandal that erupted over another BBC documentary on children in Gaza, entitled How to Survive a Warzone. Britain's public broadcaster said it would broadcast Gaza: Medics Under Fire after the review into the earlier documentary was concluded. But on Friday, the BBC announced it would not air the film. "We have come to the conclusion that broadcasting this material risked creating a perception of partiality that would not meet the high standards that the public rightly expect of the BBC," the broadcaster said in a statement. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters "Therefore, we are transferring ownership of the film material to Basement Films... Any film broadcast will not be a BBC film." 'No moral or professional reason' Basement Films, the company which produced the documentary, had previously questioned the BBC's decision to delay the broadcast, saying, "there is no moral or professional reason why a mistake in one film should repeatedly prevent the release of another film." In a statement on Friday, Basement Films said: "we would like to thank the Doctors and contributors and survivors, and to apologise for not believing them when they said the BBC would never run a film like this. BBC coverage of Israel's war on Gaza 'systematically biased against Palestinians' Read More » "It turned out they were right." The documentary tells the stories of Palestinian doctors working in Gaza under Israeli bombardment and was made by Oscar-nominated, Emmy and Peabody award-winning filmmakers, including Ben de Pear, Karim Shah and Ramita Navai. The BBC did not explain in its statement why the film would not have met "the high standards that the public rightly expect of the BBC". Basement Films said that the BBC "gave us no less than 6 different release dates" after having "told us several times verbally and by email" that the film "had been approved for broadcast". In May, over 600 prominent figures from the arts and media wrote to the BBC, accusing it of "political censorship" over its delay in screening the documentary. "Although the BBC are now taking their names off this film," Basement Films said, "it will remain theirs, and we hope it serves to open up the debate on how the nation's broadcaster covers what is happening in Gaza."
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
BBC shelves Gaza doc over impartiality concerns
The BBC says it has decided not to broadcast a documentary about doctors working in Gaza, due to impartiality concerns it has surrounding the production. Gaza: Doctors Under Attack was commissioned by the BBC but produced by an independent production company. It was originally scheduled for broadcast in February, but has not yet aired on any BBC outlet. In a statement, the BBC said it was "determined to report all aspects of the conflict in the Middle East impartially and fairly". BBC News has contacted production company Basement Films for comment. Its founder Ben de Pear said earlier this week the BBC had "utterly failed" and that journalists were "being stymied and silenced". The BBC said it was "transferring ownership of the film material to Basement Films". BBC News understands the decision to shelve the documentary was taken on Thursday, following public comments by De Pear at the Sheffield Documentary Festival, and another of the film's directors, journalist Ramita Navai, who appeared on Radio 4's Today programme discussing the war in Gaza. A different documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, was pulled from iPlayer earlier this year after it emerged its 13-year-old narrator was the son of a Hamas official. Gaza: Doctors Under Attack - also known as Gaza: Medics Under Fire - is said to examine the experiences of Palestinian medics working during the war in Gaza. The film is directed by Karim Shah, Navai and De Pear, a former editor of Channel 4 News. In a statement on Friday, the BBC said it had commissioned the documentary over a year ago, but paused the film in April, "having made a decision that we could not broadcast the film while a review into a separate Gaza documentary was ongoing". "With both films coming from independent production companies, and both about Gaza, it was right to wait for any relevant findings – and put them into action – before broadcasting the film. "However, we wanted the doctors' voices to be heard. Our aim was to find a way to air some of the material in our news programmes, in line with our impartiality standards, before the review was published. "For some weeks, the BBC has been working with Basement Films to find a way to tell the stories of these doctors on our platforms. "Yesterday [Thursday], it became apparent that we have reached the end of the road with these discussions. We have come to the conclusion that broadcasting this material risked creating a perception of partiality that would not meet the high standards that the public rightly expect of the BBC." The corporation added that, contrary to some reports, the documentary had "not undergone the BBC's final pre-broadcast sign-off processes", adding: "Any film broadcast will not be a BBC film." It continued: "We want to thank the doctors and contributors and we are sorry we could not tell their stories. The BBC will continue to cover events in Gaza impartially." Speaking at the Sheffield Documentary Festival on Thursday, before the decision was announced, De Pear specifically blamed director general Tim Davie for refusing to air the film. "All the decisions about our film were not taken by journalists, they were taken by Tim Davie," he claimed while taking part in a panel, as reported by Broadcast. "He is just a PR person. Tim Davie is taking editorial decisions which, frankly, he is not capable of making." He added: "The BBC's primary purpose is TV news and current affairs, and if it's failing on that it doesn't matter what drama it makes or sports it covers. It is failing as an institution. And if it's failing on that then it needs new management. "Something needs to happen because they are making decisions from a PR defensive point of view rather than a journalistic one. If you make a decision on a journalistic basis you can defend it, but if you make it on a PR basis, you can't." In relation to the war, De Pear claimed staff at the BBC "are being forced to use language they don't recognise, they are not describing something as it clearly is [for fear of impartiality] and it's tragic". Responding to De Pear's comments, a BBC spokesperson said the BBC "totally reject[s] this characterisation of our coverage". "The BBC has continually produced powerful journalism about this conflict. Alongside breaking news and ongoing analysis, we have produced original investigations such as those into allegations of abuse of Palestinian prisoners and Israel's use of bunker buster bombs and in-depth documentaries including the award-winning Life and Death in Gaza, and Gaza 101." High-profile figures such as actress Susan Sarandon and presenter Gary Lineker have previously accused the corporation of censorship over the delay. An open letter, which was also signed by cultural figures such as Dame Harriet Walter, Miriam Margolyes, Maxine Peake, Juliet Stevenson and Mike Leigh, said: "This is not editorial caution. It's political suppression." "No news organisation should quietly decide behind closed doors whose stories are worth telling," it continued. "This important film should be seen by the public, and its contributors' bravery honoured." 'I lost trust' in Gaza film, says BBC boss Tim Davie
Middle East Eye
4 days ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
BBC coverage of Israel's war on Gaza 'systematically biased against Palestinians'
The BBC's coverage of Israel's war on Gaza is 'systematically biased against Palestinians', according to an analysis of over 35,000 pieces of content produced by the UK's public broadcaster. The study, conducted by the Muslim Council of Britain's Centre for Media Monitoring (CFMM), which monitors how the national media reports on Islam and Muslims, found that the BBC gives Israeli deaths 33 times more coverage than Palestinian ones. In an analysis of 3,873 articles and 32,092 broadcast segments from 7 October 2023 to 6 October 2024, the CFMM found that the BBC used emotive terms four times as much for Israeli victims and applied 'massacre' 18 times more to Israeli casualties than Palestinian ones. According to its authors, the report 'reveals a systematic omission of key historical and contemporary context that has acquired an institutional quality at the BBC', including the genocidal rhetoric used by Israeli leaders – notably Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog - and a failure to scrutinise Israeli claims and denials. While the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October were referenced in at least 40 percent of the BBC's online coverage, just 0.5 percent of articles mentioned Israel's decades-long occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters According to the analysis, the BBC pressed a total of 38 interviewees to condemn the 7 October attacks, but at no point applied the equivalent questioning to Israeli actions. BBC presenters have referred to 'Hamas-controlled Gaza', despite Israeli forces now controlling more than half of the devastated enclave. The study also found that the BBC had interviewed significantly more Israelis (2,350) than Palestinians (1,085) on TV and radio, while BBC presenters shared the Israeli perspective 11 times more frequently than the Palestinian perspective (2,340 v 217). Unrest at the BBC The report comes as the BBC continues to withhold the release of Gaza: Medics Under Fire, a documentary it commissioned that tells the story of Palestinian doctors working in Gaza. Despite being signed off by the British broadcaster's lawyers, the film has not been aired because of a furore that erupted over How to Survive a Warzone, another BBC documentary on children in Gaza. The film did not mention that the father of one of the child narrators was a technocrat in Gaza's Hamas-run government. 'There's just an absurd culture of fear here, as well as a desire to follow the state line' - BBC filmmaker A BBC spokesperson told Middle East Eye a review into Gaza: Medics Under Fire was still ongoing. The film has cleared all internal 'editorial policy' teams, sources at the BBC said. The same sources, who work across multiple BBC departments, said that director-general Tim Davie and Deborah Turness, the BBC's CEO, are unwilling to release the film, despite Turness telling editorial meetings that she wants the corporation to be 'on the right side of history'. During an AMA (ask me anything) session with BBC management last week, multiple employees asked about the fate of the film. According to two employees present, management 'ignored most of the Gaza questions'. Employees opposed to the broadcaster's coverage of the Gaza war have multiple WhatsApp groups to vent their frustrations in, including one called 'Middle East coverage'. BBC accused of 'political censorship' over failure to release Gaza medics documentary Read More » A member of the group told MEE that the CFFM analysis had been widely discussed and that it was 'so incredible to see it all laid out like that'. Multiple members of the group pointed out that the BBC has promised to conduct its own review into coverage of the Gaza war, 'and now they have been beaten to it'. 'This review is probably much better than anything the BBC would have done,' one BBC filmmaker told MEE. 'There's just an absurd culture of fear here, as well as a desire to follow the state line,' the source said. 'If Starmer was stronger I'm sure it'd make a difference.' The BBC is also still dealing with a furore surrounding Gary Lineker, who presented its flagship football programme Match of the Day for 25 years and recently left the broadcaster early after reposting a piece of content about Zionism that contained a rat emoji, historically used in antisemitic propaganda. Lineker apologised. In an interview with fellow BBC presenter Amol Rajan, which was conducted and broadcast prior to the episode that prompted his departure, the former footballer said that Israel's war on Gaza and the 'mass murder of thousands of children' was more important than what was happening internally at the broadcaster and was 'probably something we should have a little opinion on'. Lineker said the BBC needed to be 'factual' and that the broadcaster was 'not impartial about Ukraine and Russia'. The CFMM report compared the BBC's Gaza coverage to 7,748 articles on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, concluding that the broadcaster is 'more willing to cover the full facts in Ukraine than Gaza'. Report heralded by public figures The CFFM report was heralded by public figures including Sayeeda Warsi, former Conservative Party co-chair; journalist Owen Jones, who has also reported on alleged bias at the BBC; Palestinian ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot; Middle East Eye columnist Peter Oborne; and Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's former director of communications who also endorsed the report, said: 'All too often, on domestic issues, the BBC's response to criticism from the right is to accept rather than challenge it and adapt coverage accordingly. 'We see the same pattern in some of its approach to international issues too, notably Israel and Palestine. The Israelis and the right-wing media do a very good job of persuading people that the BBC is biased in favour of Palestinians. This report suggests otherwise.' 'All too often the BBC shapes its agenda according to the views of those who shout loudest and fight the hardest to have their narrative dominant' - Alastair Campbell, former Downing Street director of communications Campbell said that it 'remains a scandal that a BBC commissioned film on the Israeli destruction of Gaza health facilities has yet to be aired.' The former Labour adviser, who now presents The Rest is Politics podcast, told Middle East Eye that he was 'not at all worried about speaking out' on BBC bias on Gaza. 'The only thing that sometimes holds me back is that in criticising what seems to be an overall position I do not want to denigrate the considerable good journalism done by a number of people at the BBC,' Campbell said. 'But my central point stands - all too often the BBC shapes its agenda according to the views of those who shout loudest and fight the hardest to have their narrative dominant.' A BBC spokesperson said: 'We welcome scrutiny and reflect on all feedback. Throughout our impartial reporting on the conflict we have made clear the devastating human cost to civilians living in Gaza. We will continue to give careful thought to how we do this. 'We believe it is imperative that our journalists have access to Gaza, and we continue to call on the Israeli government to grant this. 'We agree that language is vitally important but we have some questions about what appears to be a reliance on AI to analyse it in this report, and we do not think due impartiality can be measured by counting words. We make our own, independent editorial decisions, and we reject any suggestion otherwise. 'However, we will consider the report carefully and study its findings in detail.' The CCFM report used AI to process the transcripts, label speakers, and structure the content.
The National
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
Frankie Boyle among stars to blast BBC over Gaza documentary delay
MORE than 600 famous figures including comedian Frankie Boyle and Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon have accused on the BBC of 'political suppression' in its decision to delay the airing of a documentary on Gaza's doctors. The documentary titled Gaza: Medics Under Fire was reportedly ready to be broadcast in February but has been shelved following the controversy around How to Survive a Warzone, which featured the son of a Hamas official. The production firm behind the documentary on Gaza doctors, Basement Films, said the BBC has postponed airing the film until after a review into How to Survive a Warzone is completed. A number of NHS doctors are reportedly writing to the BBC to air their frustrations over its decision to delay the screening of the film after they helped to introduce the documentary team to their counterparts in Gaza. Now more than 600 prominent figures have signed an open letter to director-general Tim Davie expressing 'deep concern' about the 'censorship of Palestinian voices'. READ MORE: BBC 'sorry' for wrong pronouns during Supreme Court gender report The letter accuses the BBC of 'demonstrating bias' in its reporting of events in Gaza, including in repeatedly delaying the broadcast of Gaza: Medics Under Fire, which signatories say represents 'political suppression'. 'This documentary was scheduled to air in January but has since been indefinitely delayed. It has undergone rigorous editorial scrutiny. It has been fact-checked and signed off repeatedly, and yet the BBC refuses to set a broadcast date,' the letter states. 'This is not editorial caution. It's political suppression. The BBC has provided no timeline, no transparency. Such decisions reinforce the systemic devaluation of Palestinian lives in our media. 'It's hard not to conclude that the BBC's gatekeeping is rooted in racism. The message is clear: Programmes about the ongoing genocide, told from Palestinian perspectives, are held to a different standard. 'If the voices of Palestinian doctors aren't considered credible – just as the voices of Palestinian children were previously dismissed – then whose voices does the BBC consider legitimate? 'Every day this film is delayed, the BBC fails in its commitment to inform the public, fails in its journalistic responsibility to report the truth, and fails in its duty of care to these brave contributors.' Demanding a release date for the documentary, the letter added: 'No news organisation should quietly decide behind closed doors whose stories are worth telling.' (Image: PA) Other signatories of the letter include ex-BBC journalist Karishma Patel – who quit the BBC over its reporting on Gaza – and actress Maxine Peake (above). Historian William Dalrymple has also criticised the broadcaster's decision as he said the broadcaster is 'wrecking its reputation' over its failure to hold the Israeli Government to account. The independent documentary production company Basement Films said it was 'deeply disappointed' that its film had not yet been aired yet, amid suggestions that the BBC had reversed an original plan to press ahead with the screening. 'There is no moral or professional reason why a mistake in one film should repeatedly prevent the release of another film,' the company said. The BBC has been approached for comment. Calls for BBC to become 'public service mutual' Elsewhere, media expert Tom Mills has called major reform at the BBC insisting it should become 'public service mutual', with members actively involved in its operations. Mills – who wrote The BBC: Myth of a Public Service – said these powers will create a 'direct relationship' between the public and the broadcaster, enabling them to hold management to account and be involved in setting the BBC's strategy. (Image: Tom Mills) The Aston University sociologist has made the call ahead of the review of the BBC's Royal Charter in 2027, which defines the BBC's constitution and public purposes. He points out that while the BBC is funded by the public, they have no control over how it works, while governments 'have interfered' with the broadcaster's independence and 'weakened' its public service mission. 'Unless the BBC is radically reformed, it faces a bleak future of dwindling audiences, collapsing funding and eventual irrelevance, depriving British audiences of one of the few national institutions with a duty to serve their needs and interests,' he said. 'The next BBC Royal Charter should mutualise the BBC, transforming it into an organisation owned and controlled by the British public. 'A mutualised BBC would continue to be an independent public service media institution, but one founded on a genuinely democratic relationship with the public.' Setting out proposals for the reform, Mills said members of a mutualised BBC would be 'sovereign' and represented by a members' council which would organise members' participation in the BBC's activities and directly hold the BBC executive to account. He added that any future funding mechanism by the BBC must be 'free from government control' and rated progressively on ability to pay. Other proposals include:
South Wales Argus
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South Wales Argus
Susan Sarandon and Frankie Boyle among signatories urging BBC to air Gaza film
Figures from across the film, TV, journalism and cultural sectors have signed their name in an open letter urging BBC director general Tim Davie to air the unreleased documentary, Gaza: Medics Under Fire. The letter has been sent on behalf of the UK Screen Industry, made up of a 'group of concerned film and TV professionals'. Tim Davie, director general of the BBC (Andrew Milligan/PA) The documentary, which includes eyewitness accounts from frontline Palestinian health workers in Gaza and documents attacks on hospitals and clinics, was due to air in January. But it was delayed by the BBC until an ongoing review into a different programme in the region was completed. The BBC pulled the documentary How to Survive a Warzone in February after it emerged its 13-year old narrator was the son of a Hamas official. The letter, signed by more than a dozen anonymous BBC staff, said: 'This documentary was scheduled to air in January but has since been indefinitely delayed. It has undergone rigorous editorial scrutiny. It has been fact-checked and signed off repeatedly, and yet the BBC refuses to set a broadcast date. 'This is not editorial caution. It's political suppression. The BBC has provided no timeline, no transparency. Such decisions reinforce the systemic devaluation of Palestinian lives in our media. 'It's hard not to conclude that the BBC's gatekeeping is rooted in racism. The message is clear: Programmes about the ongoing genocide, told from Palestinian perspectives, are held to a different standard. 'Every day this film is delayed, the BBC fails in its commitment to inform the public, fails in its journalistic responsibility to report the truth, and fails in its duty of care to these brave contributors.' Also among the 600 or so signatories are Channel 4 News international editor, Lindsey Hilsum, and actors Game of Thrones' Indira Varma, Killing Eve's Dame Harriet Walter, and Sweetpea star Olivia Cooke. Director Mike Leigh also added his name to the list along with actress Miriam Margolyes and Bend It Like Beckham's Juliet Stevenson. Ruhi Hamid, a filmmaker who signed the letter, said: 'As a documentary filmmaker, I know how much work, risk, and responsibility goes into telling the truth – especially in places like Gaza. 'When the BBC, a public service broadcaster, chooses to suppress a film that highlights the lifesaving work of doctors under siege, it doesn't just fail the filmmakers. It fails the public. 'It sends a message that some truths are too inconvenient to air, and that some lives – especially Palestinian lives—are less worthy of compassion or coverage. 'That's not just editorial judgment. That's a failure of journalistic integrity – and it's dangerous for our entire industry.' Rose Glandfield, a documentary editor who also signed the letter added: 'As a Jewish woman from a family of pacifists, I was raised with the belief that our humanity is defined by how we respond to the suffering of others, regardless of their nationality, ethnicity, or religion. Bearing witness to injustice and standing up for those in danger is not only a moral imperative, it is a core part of my identity.' The production company behind the new documentary, Basement Films, said they gathered 'searing testimony from multiple Palestinian doctors and healthcare workers' and are 'desperate' to confirm a release date. The broadcaster has responded to the delay and said it will release the documentary 'as soon as possible'. A BBC spokesperson said: 'We are committed to journalism which tells our audiences the stories of this war, including what is happening in Gaza. This documentary is a powerful piece of reporting and we will broadcast it as soon as possible. 'We have taken an editorial decision not to do so while we have an ongoing review into a previous documentary Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone.' The BBC previously apologised over 'serious flaws' in releasing How To Survive a Warzone with Davies saying he lost 'trust' in the film after learning of the Hamas connection. It is understood that the BBC will respond to the letter in due course and will not cancel the documentary. The broadcaster launched a review into the film and has delayed the release of the new documentary with no current date in place for when it will air.
