Hamas politicians and its military wing are not the same, BBC News chief says
A video appears to show Ms Turness saying: 'I think it's really important that we are clear that (the narrator) Abdullah's father was the deputy agricultural minister and therefore, you know, was a member of the Hamas-run government, which is different to being part of the military wing of Hamas.
'And I think externally it's often simplified that he was in Hamas, and I think it's an important point of detail that we need to continually remind people of the difference and of that connection.'
Hamas's military wing was proscribed in 2001 and that was extended in 2021 to include its political wing.
After Ms Turness's comments were reported, a BBC spokesperson said: 'The BBC constantly makes clear on our programmes and platforms that Hamas are a proscribed terrorist organisation by the UK Government and others.
'We are also clear that we need to describe to our audiences the complexities of life in Gaza, including within the structure of Hamas, which has run the civilian functions of Gaza.'
They added: 'Deborah Turness was answering a question about how we described the father of the narrator in our Warzone film.
'She did not imply that Hamas are not a single terrorist organisation.
'As we have said, there was an editorial breach in this film, and we are sorry. We will not show the film again in its current form and we should not have used this child as the narrator.'
Ofcom announced on Monday that it will investigate the documentary after an external review found the programme had breached the corporation's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
The review, conducted by Peter Johnston, the director of editorial complaints and reviews, which is independent of BBC News, said the programme was in breach of accuracy for 'failing to disclose information about the child narrator's father's position within the Hamas-run government'.
It found no other breaches of editorial guidelines, including breaches of impartiality, and also found no evidence that outside interests 'inappropriately impacted on the programme'.
The report said that 'careful consideration of the requirements of due impartiality was undertaken in this project given the highly contested nature of the subject matter'.
Ofcom said it had examined the BBC report and would be investigating under its broadcasting code, which states that factual programmes 'must not materially mislead the audience'.
An Ofcom spokesperson said: 'Having examined the BBC's findings, we are launching an investigation under our rule which states that factual programmes must not materially mislead the audience.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News
16 minutes ago
- Sky News
Observer editor-in-chief James Harding says BBC should be 'put beyond reach of politicians'
The Observer's editor-in-chief has called for the BBC to be "put beyond the reach of politicians" - and has compared the fight for survival within television to the zombie fungus in The Last Of Us. Speaking to Sky News about his James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival on Wednesday, James Harding said it "is not the golden age of TV, it's more like The Last Of Us… just trying to stay alive as the fungus of new things eats through all of us". The co-founder of Tortoise Media - which bought The Observer from the Scott Trust and Guardian Media Group in December - said he believes establishing the independence of the BBC is critical "if we want to build confidence in shared facts and respect for the truth". "At the moment politicians choose the chairman, they choose the licence fee, they have enormous influence over it," he said. "Let's face it, there's a suspicion that there's a certain worldview attached to the BBC. Let's make sure that it's obvious to people that actually different points of view are really welcome." 2:36 Mr Harding, who ran the BBC's news and current affairs programming from 2013 up until the beginning of 2018, said the government must consider separating itself from the institution. He explained: "When the government established the independence of the Bank of England in 1997, it put confidence in the central institution of the economy ahead of politics; the government today can and should do the same for the shared institution in our society by giving real independence to the BBC." The BBC has been criticised for a number of incidents in recent months, including breaching its own accuracy editorial guidelines and livestreaming the controversial Bob Vylan Glastonbury set, where there were chants of: "Death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]". Following the incident, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said ministers expected "accountability at the highest levels" for the BBC's decision to screen the performance. In his lecture, Mr Harding said the BBC is "not institutionally antisemitic" and that: "Whatever your view of the hate speech versus freedom of speech issues, an overbearing government minister doesn't help anyone. "The hiring and firing of the editor-in-chief of the country's leading newsroom and cultural organisation should not be the job of a politician. It's chilling." Ahead of the BBC charter renewal in 2027, he said the corporation's "survival is at stake". He argued that the BBC chair and board of directors should be "chosen, not by the prime minister, but by the board itself and then, like other such organisations, with the approval of Ofcom. "The charter should be open-ended. And the licence fee - or any future funding arrangement - should not be decided behind closed doors by the culture secretary and the chancellor, but, as in Germany, set transparently and rationally by an independent commission that impartially advises government and is scrutinised by parliament." He also said the BBC should lead the way in striking deals with generative AI companies by taking advantage of the "meaningful pricing of its reliable, ceaselessly renewed library of content. 1:50 "That would help set the terms for other UK news and media companies that don't get a hearing from the new generation of tech giants," he said. Mr Harding suggested that the BBC should look to work with AI developers to provide a "BBC GPT" that could enable the public to utilise AI "without handing over every last detail of what's on their minds to US tech corporations that have proved obstinately unaccountable in the UK." He said it's "about more than the BBC, it's a national investment in our future that will come back to reap multi-platform rewards that an investment in no other UK organisation can."
The Guardian
16 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Protect BBC's independence in case of Farage government, ex-news head urges
The BBC must be given complete political independence in case Nigel Farage enters government, its former director of news has said. James Harding, now the editor-in-chief of the Observer, pointed to Donald Trump's attempts to defund publicly backed US media and said it would be 'recklessly complacent' to believe something similar could not happen in Britain. He said the BBC's survival was at stake and noted that Reform's last manifesto had claimed the 'out-of-touch wasteful BBC is institutionally biased. The TV licence is taxation without representation. We will scrap it.' Harding said: 'In other words, the one-time reality TV star who leads Reform has some bracing reality in store for TV. It's recklessly complacent to ignore it. What's happened in the US is, as likely as not, going to happen here. We have to address this now.' His comments come with Reform consistently leading in the polls and fears within Labour and the Conservatives about its rise. Harding called for a complete overhaul of the BBC's political and financial independence, including the end of a regime under which the corporation enters negotiations over the renewal of its charter every 10 years. 'It's extraordinary, when you think about it, that if parliament chooses not to renew the royal charter in 2027, the BBC will cease to exist,' he said. 'The BBC, which politicians can't help but keep on a leash, is, in effect, on a 10-year rolling contract. 'Political interference – and the perception of a political presence looming over the BBC – is a problem, one that we've got too accustomed to. And it looks likely to get worse. We need to get on with putting the country's most important editorial and creative organisation beyond the reach of politicians now.' Harding issued his plea as he delivered the annual MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh television festival. He said the prime minister should be stripped of the power to pick the corporation's chair and board. Instead, he said, it should operate like other corporations, in which the board selects the chair, with the approval of the communications watchdog, Ofcom. He also called for the BBC's charter to be open-ended, like that of the Bank of England, with the licence fee or any future funding arrangement not decided 'behind closed doors' by the culture secretary and the chancellor, but by an independent commission that advises the government and is scrutinised by parliament. 'BBC independence means giving it the resources it needs, not freezing its funding yet again, but doubling down,' he said. 'Over five years, nearly 2.5 million households have dropped out of paying the licence fee, so this needs fixing. It's expensive and unfair on those who pay. If we believe in the universality of the BBC, we need to return to the principle in some form or other that every household pays.' Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion The former Times editor also said the BBC should 'lead the way in striking deals with generative AI companies on meaningful pricing of its reliable, ceaselessly renewed library of content'. Harding, who is Jewish, said he did not believe the BBC was 'institutionally antisemitic', as some have claimed after a series of rows over its handling of Gaza coverage. He criticised the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, for her repeated attacks on the BBC director general, Tim Davie, after the BBC's admission that a Gaza documentary breached accuracy guidelines and its livestreaming of Bob Vylan's Glastonbury set, which included chants of 'death to the IDF', referring to the Israel Defense Forces. 'Whatever your view of the hate speech v freedom of speech issues, an overbearing government minister doesn't help anyone,' Harding said. 'The hiring and firing of the editor-in-chief of the country's leading newsroom and cultural organisation should not be the job of a politician. It's chilling.'
Telegraph
16 minutes ago
- Telegraph
BBC wrong not to call Hamas terrorists, says former head of news
The BBC was wrong not to use the word 'terrorist' to describe Hamas in its coverage of the Oct 7 attacks, the broadcaster's former head of news has said. James Harding, who led the BBC's news output between 2013 and 2018 and is now editor-in-chief of the Observer, took aim at the corporation for its decision not to use the term, arguing that 'journalists shouldn't censor words, but use them accurately'. The BBC triggered outrage and accusations of anti-Semitism after it refused to use the term 'terrorist' to describe the gunmen who massacred more than 1,000 people and took hundreds hostage in the worst loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust. It instead describes them as militants and states that Hamas is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK, Israel and others. Mr Harding, who is Jewish, said newsrooms had been plunged into 'furious argument' over how to cover Israel and Gaza, adding that the conflict was 'very hard to view dispassionately'. He admitted that the corporation had 'for sure made mistakes', including serious ones during his tenure. However, he insisted that the BBC was not 'institutionally anti-Semitic'. Delivering the James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival on Wednesday, Mr Harding said: 'I am Jewish, proudly so. I'm proud, too, to have worked for the most important news organisation in the world. 'The BBC is not institutionally anti-Semitic. It's untrue to say it is. 'It's also unhelpful – much better to correct the mistakes and address the judgment calls that have been wrong, than smear the institution, impugn the character of all the people who work there and, potentially, undermine journalists in the field working in the most difficult and dangerous of conditions.' Despite its pledge to describe Hamas as a banned terror group, analysis of the BBC's online news stories earlier this year found that the broadcaster was failing to do so in nine out of 10 reports. The BBC has said it makes clear that Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation 'where possible and appropriate', but argued that the longevity of the conflict means there is less need to constantly repeat the phrase. However, the broadcaster came under further scrutiny last month after its current head of news told staff that the Hamas government of Gaza and the organisation's military wing were 'different'. Deborah Turness made the comments after the BBC broke its own editorial guidelines by broadcasting a Gaza documentary without disclosing that its 13-year-old narrator was the son of a Hamas official. The Board of Deputies of British Jews condemned the remarks, accusing Mr Turness of 'obfuscating and minimising the BBC's failings'. The broadcaster has also been embroiled in a row over its decision to air a controversial Glastonbury set by artist Bob Vylan, which led chants of 'death, death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]'. That scandal prompted an intervention by Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, who warned there was a ' problem of leadership ' at the BBC, sparking uncertainty over the future of director general Tim Davie. In his speech, Mr Harding described Ms Nandy's comments as 'chilling', arguing that the corporation should be kept 'beyond the reach of politicians'. The veteran news executive, who raised concerns about Reform's pledge to scrap the licence fee, said the Prime Minister should not be involved in the appointment of the BBC's chairman and director general. He also called for an independent commission to be set up to decide the future of the BBC's funding model. He said: 'Political interference – and the perception of a political presence looming over the BBC – is a problem, one that we've got too accustomed to. 'And it looks likely to get worse. We need to get on with putting the country's most important editorial and creative organisation beyond the reach of politicians now.'
