Friday, May 09, 2014

BBC's bizarre response to my latest complaint

Following a formal complaint to the BBC about their ludicrously biased coverage of the breakdown of the Middle East 'peace talks' last week I got the response below. What is incredible about their response is that they say they "were not able to source the Radio 5 Live report" that I referred to (even though it was repeated about 20 times) and so they do not actually respond to the specific complaint that I made (which was about the following Radio 5 Live statement: "Both sides are being blamed for the failure. Israel refused to release Palestinian prisoners and there was Palestinian anger at Israel's continued settlement building in the occupied territories"):

Thank you for contacting us regarding BBC Radio news on both Radio 4 and 5 Live broadcast 29 April. 
I understand you feel news reports displayed an Anti-Israel bias based on inaccurate information. 
I fully appreciate your feedback on this matter and reviewed the programme due to your concerns. 
I wasn't able to source the 5 Live report that you refer to in your complaint however I did find the report on Radio 4 which I have transcribed for your information. 
"A deadline set by the United States for a Middle East peace deal to be reached has expired with the process now in disarray. Israel and the Palestinians have both refused to commit to further talks. President Obama has blamed both sides for the collapse of the process. The negotiations floundered over Israel's rejection of a deal between the two main Palestinian factions to form a unity
 Of course this situation is a lot more complicated than this brief report was able to convey due to time constraints and perfect balance is difficult to achieve on every single occasion. Over all it is a more achievable goal, so account should be taken of the way a subject is dealt with over time. 
I do appreciate you feel strongly regarding this, and as we’re guided by feedback such as yours, I’d like to assure you that I’ve registered your comments on our audience log. This is a report of audience feedback that’s compiled daily and made available to staff across the BBC, including members of the BBC Executive Board, channel controllers and other senior managers. 
Thanks again for taking the time to contact us. 
Kind Regards 
Michelle McGahan
BBC Complaints
www.bbc.co.uk/complaints www.bbc.co.uk/complaints

If the BBC really want to understand why the 'peace process' failed thet should read Daniel Greenfield's article about it here or his letter to John Kerry.

1 comment:

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