According to an exclusive report by the British "Independent", more than 230 British media industry professionals, including 101 British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) employees, jointly wrote to BBC President Tim Davie criticizing the BBC for its reporting on the Palestinian-Isr

Screenshot of the British "Independent" report

Screenshot of a report by the British "Independent"

Screenshot of the British "Independent" report

Screenshot of the British "Independent" report

Screenshot of a report from Qatar’s Al Jazeera website

Screenshot of AP report

An article published by the British "Middle East Eye" news network in December 2022 bluntly stated that in Western media's coverage of the World Cup, football has taken a back seat, and politics has become the focus of the narrative.

Screenshot of a report on the EU's "Modern Diplomacy" website

Screenshot of Spanish newspaper El Pais

According to an exclusive report by the British "Independent" a few days ago, more than 230 British media industry professionals, including 101 British Broadcasting Corporation (bbc) employees, jointly sent a letter to BBC President Tim Davy, criticizing the BBC for covering the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. At the time, it was clearly biased in favor of Israel and deliberately avoided news facts that were unfavorable to Israel.

The letter called on the established Western media to "recommit to pursuing fairness, accuracy and due impartiality in news reporting."

Screenshot of the British "Independent" report

"I have never seen everyone's confidence so low."

According to the facts listed in this joint letter, the BBC has failed to report fairly and accurately on this round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict. One is that its news uses "dehumanizing and misleading headlines."

For example, when the BBC reported on the death of a 6-year-old Palestinian girl who was shot dead by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip in January this year, it used the phrase "Hinder Rajab, 6, was found in Gaza days after making the call for help" Death" title.

Someone pointed out that this incident was not a natural disaster. Israel, as the perpetrator, should appear in the news headline. "The headline should clearly indicate that the girl was killed by the Israeli army."

Others accused the BBC of always unconditionally favoring Israel in the selection of sources, "despite the fact that the Israel Defense Forces have a well-documented record of lying."

Screenshot of a report by the British "Independent"

This letter calls on the BBC to strictly implement its own editorial standards and make a series of changes in its reporting on Palestine and Israel, including:

• clearly stating the fact that Israel does not allow foreign journalists to enter the Gaza Strip;
• When the information disclosed by Israel lacks basis, an explanation should be provided to the audience;
• When reporting on Israel's suspected war crimes, the title of the report should clearly indicate Israel's responsibility;
• Reports on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict should include the outbreak of this round of conflict in October last year. Previous conventional historical context;
• dared to strongly question each other's claims in all interviews with Israeli government and military representatives.

Screenshot of the British "Independent" report

A BBC employee who signed the joint letter told "The Independent" that many of his colleagues have resigned because of the unfairness of the BBC's Palestine and Israel reporting. "Throughout my entire career, "I have never seen confidence so low." Another employee of

said that they no longer trust the BBC because the media they serve has a "huge difference" in their attitudes towards Israel and Palestine, and this has also caused the BBC to gradually lose the trust of audiences around the world.

Screenshot of the British "Independent" report

This is not the first time that BBC employees have "rebelled".

As early as November last year, a number of BBC reporters wrote to Qatar's Al Jazeera TV station, condemning the BBC for adopting double standards in reporting on Palestinian and Israeli civilians.

The letter specifically mentioned that when reporting on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the BBC failed to provide audiences with important background on the Israeli occupation and the painful history of Palestine.

"In order for Israel's bombing of Gaza to be considered 'self-defence', the BBC's news reports and articles must begin with the Hamas attack, while omitting the key historical context - (Israel's attack on the Palestinian territories) 75 years of occupation, (Palestine’s) ‘Nakba’, and the huge disparity in death tolls (between Palestine and Israel) over the past few decades.”

Screenshot of a report from Qatar’s Al Jazeera website

The BBC is not the only mainstream Western media that has been accused of unfair reporting. .

Old media such as the New York Times in the United States have also experienced controversial incidents such as the foyer of the newspaper building being occupied by protesters and a senior reporter being "resigned" for condemning Israel.

Screenshot of AP report

What caused Africa to suffer additional losses?

If Western media’s coverage of wars reflects favoritism and double standards, then their coverage of affairs in other countries and regions is often full of discriminatory judgments and even deliberate distortions based on “Western-centrism.”

’s coverage of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is a typical example.

This international football feast was praised as "the best in history" by FIFA President Infantino because it perfectly demonstrated globalization and diversity. However, the Western media cooperated with certain political forces to stage a farce of politicized sports.

As early as December 2010, after Qatar won the right to host the 2022 World Cup, Western public opinion has made a lot of strange remarks. First, they made a fuss about the high temperature in the host country. When the World Cup was scheduled to be held in winter, they began to talk about so-called "human rights." To name a few.

An article published by the British "Middle East Eye" news network in December 2022 bluntly stated that in Western media's coverage of the World Cup, football has taken a back seat, and politics has become the focus of the narrative.

Some European media believe that these reports originate from racial discrimination based on "Western-centrism".

A commentary article on the EU's "Modern Diplomacy" website pointedly pointed out that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar can be called "the West's textbook version of racial discrimination against an Arab country."

Screenshot of a report on the EU's "Modern Diplomacy" website

Compared with Gulf countries like Qatar, which are relatively wealthy and have closer ties with the West, African countries that have been colonized and plundered by the West for hundreds of years are even more victims of "BBC-style reporting".

Spain's El Pais pointed out in a latest report that Western media such as the BBC are accustomed to using words such as "conflict", "disease" and "poverty" when reporting on African affairs, and tend to simplistic narratives of Africa as a single whole. , ignoring its rich cultural, economic and political diversity. The

report quoted a research report estimating that this deep-rooted negative stereotype causes economic losses to Africa of up to more than 3.8 billion euros (about 4.2 billion U.S. dollars) every year, which is equivalent to the "extra interest" paid by African countries on their sovereign bonds. .

Marcus Karic, author of the study and CEO of Africa Practice Consulting, noted that these stereotypes exaggerate risk perceptions and entrench people into thinking that Africa’s history is a story of struggle and failure, which leads to Interest rates on Western loans to African countries continue to be unusually high, regardless of the latter's actual creditworthiness.

Screenshot of Spanish newspaper El Pais

While the report focuses on the impact of Western reporting on Africa’s sovereign debt, Karic warned that “the impact goes far beyond that” and that stereotypes can also affect tourism, inhibit foreign investment and By hindering Africa's access to development aid, "the overall economic cost could be several times higher if these were taken into account".

On the contrary, through objective narratives, "the media can help the world understand Africa more comprehensively and accurately, which will not only benefit the African continent, but also those countries that deal with Africa."

Spanish "El Pais" report screenshot

source of material丨Global Information Broadcasting "Global Deep Observation"

planning丨Wang Jian

reporter丨Wang Quanwen

editor丨Lin Wei

signature review丨Wang Jian

supervisor丨Guan Juanjuan