When the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, held a virtual town hall meeting with staff this month, most assumed it would be dominated by disputes over pay and redundancies.
When the questions came in, however, the top query to the boss was clear: why was the corporation refusing to show a long-awaited documentary about medics in Gaza?
The answer most desired by staff was in relation to delays in broadcasting Gaza: Doctors Under Attack. They wanted to know why it had been shelved while an investigation took place into another documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, which was pulled from the iPlayer earlier this year after it emerged its child narrator was the son of a Hamas official.
“The lack of transparency over these decisions is hugely concerning,” Davie was told. Another staffer asked: “Are you aware this [delay] has negatively impacted the BBC’s reputation and ability to tell Palestine stories?”
A third question seen by the Guardian went further. “I’m often confronted about the BBC being a propaganda machine and biased about Gaza,” it said. “I love my job, but sometimes I can’t tell anyone I work here for fear of arguments. What can be done about this?”
It went on: “I know I am not alone in feeling this way and believe my question will resonate with colleagues across the corporation.”
Davie fielded the questions, saying no one should be falling out with friends and family members in defence of the BBC’s coverage of the conflict, and admitting the editorial decisions involved in covering Gaza were “as tough as it gets”.
Since that event, the BBC has completely axed the medics documentary, causing further anger. Channel 4 announced this weekend that it would air the documentary on Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, executives are braced for the findings from its internal inquiry into the making of Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone. It is expected in the coming weeks and will bring internal and external criticism from those who accuse the BBC of an anti-Israel bias. “Deputy heads will roll,” said one industry figure closely watching the outcome.
The corporation came in for renewed criticism from both sides this weekend for livestreaming a Glastonbury festival performance of the rap punk duo Bob Vylan, where chants of “Death, death to the IDF” were heard, and opting not to livestream a performance by the band Kneecap, one of whom has been charged with a terror offence for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag at a gig in November.
Long before that all-staff session, BBC bosses were acutely aware of the fraught atmosphere in Broadcasting House over Gaza coverage. Just weeks earlier, Davie had decided to end Gary Lineker’s tenure at the BBC after the Match of the Day presenter reposted a social media video appearing to refer to Jewish people as rats – an antisemitic slur used by the Nazis. It led to accusations of an anti-Israel bias.
The episode left some Jewish staff saying they felt betrayed, with one accusing their bosses of doing the “bare minimum of damage limitation”. Some now focus on BBC Arabic. One staffer said it operated “in its own way when it comes to the Israel-Palestinian conflict” and that contributors had been found making “opinionated postings on social media”. Two BBC employees said the service needed to be reformed.
A BBC source said BBC Arabic’s journalists had “decades of extensive knowledge and experience in covering the region” and that any mistakes made were corrected. They added that appropriate action was taken against anyone breaking the BBC’s social media guidance.
The former BBC director of television Danny Cohen, who has made repeated allegations of anti-Israel bias against his former employer, said there was a wider issue at the corporation. “This left-of-centre structural bias in the BBC newsroom informs a lot of the journalism,” he said. “Amongst younger journalists it seems to be a particular problem when it comes to anti-Israel bias.”
The incidents have resulted in uncomfortable internal claims of both anti-Israel and anti-Palestinian bias. More unrest followed the corporation’s decision to sever its ties with Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, stating that broadcasting it “risked creating a perception of partiality”. It handed ownership back to its independent producer, Basement Films.
The Guardian has been told the BBC suggested editorial changes that Basement deemed unnecessary, but the working relationship had been good during the production process. Once the investigation was launched into the production of Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, however, the medics documentary was shelved until that was completed.
This outraged its supporters inside and outside the BBC, who accuse Davie of making an unnecessary and panicked call, rather than relying on the editorial judgments of the teams involved. BBC insiders said it was right to delay the documentary because it could conceivably be affected by recommendations stemming from the investigation into a similar programme.
BBC figures insisted they had been trying to find a way to publish at least parts of the medics documentary in news coverage, though the nature of those talks is disputed. Even in mid-May, Basement Films was already saying publicly that it was “doubtful” the BBC would release the programme – a prediction that proved correct.
Some supportive figures worry the saga has shown the BBC has lost confidence in producing such programmes. “The BBC has, in my view, performed strongly in coverage of the Middle East and I do not believe it is institutionally biased,” said Roger Mosey, the former head of BBC television news. “It has highly skilled journalists who do the very best they can in an area where access is restricted and where the actions of both sides can be heavily contested.
“That said, it is clearly a problem that the BBC has not been able to deliver satisfactory long-form TV documentaries on conditions in Gaza. The editorial complexities are real, but equally it’s a subject that must be reported in current affairs films.”
This is disputed by the BBC, with insiders pointing to award-winning documentaries, such as Life and Death in Gaza, and Gaza 101, as well as the podcast Finding Freedom in the Water: Gaza’s Swimming Teacher.
BBC figures point out internal complaints come from both directions, with two recent reports each claiming to prove bias either against Israel or Palestinians. Senior journalists say many problems stem from Israel’s refusal to grant international journalists access to Gaza.
“More broadly, we strongly reject the notion – levelled from different sides of this conflict – that we are pro or anti any position,” a BBC source said.
There is no let-up for the corporation. The forthcoming publication of its investigation into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone will be followed by a “thematic review” into its Middle East coverage. Both will ensure attention from all sides continues to focus on the corporation’s approach.
