12 Jan 09 | Uncategorized
Is the BBC’s quest for balance actually distorting its coverage of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza? Index on Censorship Chief Executive John Kampfner thinks it might be:
‘Language, as any propagandist knows, is the most important tool. Hamas fighters are called “militants”. That, I am told, is a halfway house between “terrorist” and more sympathetic labels such as “guerrillas”. The Israeli army is often referred to by its formal title, the Israel Defence Forces. The bombardment of Gaza has regularly been described as “the Israeli operation”. Such language denudes coverage of impact.’
Read the rest at Media Guardian
12 Dec 08 | Comment, News and features
A nuclear whistleblower and BBC journalists are being unjustly pursued, says Chris Ames
(more…)
27 Nov 08 | Uncategorized
Index on Censorship editor Jo Glanville was a ‘witness’ on Radio 4’s the Moral Maze last night, discussing the BNP list leak, and whether attitudes towards BNP members working in social services etc showed we had ‘lost our nerve over freedom of expression and [become] a more intolerant, illiberal society?’ (the BBC’s words). If you missed it, you can hear the repeat on Saturday at 10.15 pm. It’s not on Listen Again at time of posting.
Thought for the day: Does the fact BNP spokesman Lee John Barnes was invited on a Radio 4 discussion programme mean that the UK is a more tolerant or less tolerant society?
12 Nov 08 | Uncategorized
The dispute over the BBC’s restructuring of its Russian service continues. After Thursday’s letter in the Times, signed by Index on Censorship and others, the World Service director Nigel Chapman went to great length to contact various signatories and address the points of the letter. Chapman also sent a letter to the Times, saying: ‘The BBC will continue its strong commitment to the BBC Russian service and to its role as a trusted, influential and editorially independent news provider.’
A World Service spokesman stressed to Index on Censorship that the cuts would mainly be made to news bulletins designed for the BBC’s FM partners in Russia (of which there are now none) and that the reduction in hours of radio programming would mostly be down to the cancellation of 11 1/2 hours of ‘repeats’. He also reiterated the fact that more resources would be poured into online operations, where the majority of Russian BBC users are now found, and that current affairs programmes such as Vecher na BBC were being expanded.
A further email to Index on Censorship said that several of the signatories of the Times letter had apologised on learning this.
Today the Times printed a letter from Russia expert Robert Chandler, questioning the World Service’s claims. Chandler pointed out that while cutting repeats sounds fine, it potentially means programmes are lost to listeners at the further reaches of Russia’s 11 time zones. As Chandler puts it, ‘[Chapman] seems to regard the whole of Russia east of the Urals as an irrelevant appendage to Moscow and St Petersburg.’ He then goes on to say there needs to be a ‘public inquiry into all aspects of the World Service’, citing problems in Nepal and Pakistan.
One suspects this issue’s not going to go away any time soon.
UPDATE: And it hasn’t. Here, in pdf form, (and interesting reading) are:
Nigel Chapman’s response to the original Times letter.
The unedited version of Robert Chandler’s letter to the Times, supplied to Index on Censorship.
A response from Donald Rayfield, Emeritus Professor of Russian and Georgian, Queen Mary University of London, supplied to Index on Censorship.
UPDATE 2: In a letter to the Times today, the World Service’s Nigel Chapman addresses Robert Chandler’s points, which he describes as ‘inaccuracies and assertions’, says the BBC’s ‘independence and editorial integrity are non-negotiable’.
