Holocaust that must be denied

Mainstream journalist blocked from using the H-word to describe Gaza atrocities

- by SERENA WYLDE

IT appears that professional journalists employed across the mainstream media are no longer able to live with the lack of editorial integrity in their coverage of Gaza.

The BBC, as a licence fee-funded organisation, with the most visited online news site in the world (last May alone it had 1.1 billion visits), is particularly culpable, but it seems no mainstream broadcaster is exempt from blame.

Many employees of these organisations have raised complaints through the appropriate channels but to no avail.

In November, a letter addressed to BBC Director-General, Tim Davie, signed by over 250 media industry professionals, including 101 anonymous BBC employees, accused the organisation of Israeli bias in its coverage of Gaza and called for:

• Accuracy across the board, including, but not limited to reiterating that Israel does not give external journalists access to Gaza.

• Making it clear when there is insufficient evidence to back up Israeli claims, and where Israel is the perpetrator in article headlines.

• Providing proportionate representation of experts in war crimes and crimes against humanity, including regular historical context predating October 2023.

• Use of consistent language when discussing both Israeli and Palestinian deaths, and robustly challenging Israeli government and military representatives in all interviews.

The consequences of unbalanced coverage are significant, as TV reports, articles and radio interviews fail to challenge Israeli claims adequately while dehumanising Palestinians in some cases.

Guardian columnist Owen Jones conducted an in-depth investigation into the BBC's coverage of Israel's 14-month assault on Gaza, during which he interviewed 13 BBC journalists. Last month, he published his report on Drop Site News entitled The BBC's Civil War Over Gaza.