Latest news with #WorldAtOne
North Wales Chronicle
14-07-2025
- Politics
- North Wales Chronicle
BBC News executive says it ‘failed' to ask right questions on Gaza documentary
It comes after a report looking into the documentary, which was removed from BBC iPlayer in February after it emerged that the child narrator was the son of a Hamas official, found that it breached BBC editorial guidelines on accuracy. The review, published on Monday, was conducted by Peter Johnston, the director of editorial complaints and reviews which is independent of BBC News, and found that 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 did not, however, find any other breaches of editorial guidelines, including breaches of impartiality, and also found no evidence that 'outside interests' 'inappropriately impacted on the programme'. Speaking on BBC's Radio 4 World At One programme, Deborah Turness, chief executive of BBC News said: 'Our current affairs teams, day in, day out, week in, week out, are creating and pushing out incredibly controversial, difficult, complex documentaries. 'We have really good, best in class systems in place, but in this we failed, and we must put in place new processes which will enable us to continue with our courageous journalism with confidence.' She also added: 'It's about accountability. And I think what you can see today is that the BBC has taken this incredibly seriously. We have led a full and thorough investigation, which we are publishing full and transparently. 'Everything is out there, and we share the action plan that we're now putting into place to prevent this kind of mistake happening again. 'We are responsible for everything that we publish and everything we broadcast. We take it incredibly seriously, and we didn't run those questions to ground.' Ms Turness also addressed a second Gaza documentary, Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, which was originally commissioned by the broadcaster from an independent production company called Basement Films. However, the corporation delayed airing it until the review into Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone was released. The documentary, which includes witness accounts from frontline Palestinian health workers in Gaza and documents attacks on hospitals and clinics, was later pulled entirely and aired on Channel 4 earlier this month. Ms Turness said: 'We want to tell the stories of Gaza. We are telling the stories of Gaza. 'We've got long form projects in the pipeline. We are covering Gaza, and we're covering it with courage and without fear or favour. 'During that production, the BBC raised concerns around the social media activity of one of the journalists. Obviously, we are incredibly protective and conscious of our impartiality and our very high standards of impartiality, and we were concerned about the activity of the journalist concerned. 'We decided, in the light of those concerns, that we would pause broadcast of that documentary while waiting to see what the Peter Johnston report would bring us. 'The film company weren't happy with that pause, and they wanted the journalism to air sooner. So we were trying to find a way around that, trying to find a way without airing the documentary, to put the journalism and the voice of the doctors on our platforms. 'And then came a moment where the lead journalist went on the Today programme to talk about Israel's attacks on Iran and used language around Israel that was really not compatible with the BBC standards of impartiality and made it impossible for us to continue with the project. 'It was very difficult to imagine that it could meet the BBC standards of impartiality, and that it would have created at least a perception of partiality, had we aired it. 'And the right thing to do at that time was to walk away, because no BBC journalist could have said what that journalist said on air, and therefore we have to apply some of the same standards to those who work with us from the outside.'
Rhyl Journal
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Rhyl Journal
BBC News executive says it ‘failed' to ask right questions on Gaza documentary
It comes after a report looking into the documentary, which was removed from BBC iPlayer in February after it emerged that the child narrator was the son of a Hamas official, found that it breached BBC editorial guidelines on accuracy. The review, published on Monday, was conducted by Peter Johnston, the director of editorial complaints and reviews which is independent of BBC News, and found that 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 did not, however, find any other breaches of editorial guidelines, including breaches of impartiality, and also found no evidence that 'outside interests' 'inappropriately impacted on the programme'. Speaking on BBC's Radio 4 World At One programme, Deborah Turness, chief executive of BBC News said: 'Our current affairs teams, day in, day out, week in, week out, are creating and pushing out incredibly controversial, difficult, complex documentaries. 'We have really good, best in class systems in place, but in this we failed, and we must put in place new processes which will enable us to continue with our courageous journalism with confidence.' She also added: 'It's about accountability. And I think what you can see today is that the BBC has taken this incredibly seriously. We have led a full and thorough investigation, which we are publishing full and transparently. 'Everything is out there, and we share the action plan that we're now putting into place to prevent this kind of mistake happening again. 'We are responsible for everything that we publish and everything we broadcast. We take it incredibly seriously, and we didn't run those questions to ground.' Ms Turness also addressed a second Gaza documentary, Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, which was originally commissioned by the broadcaster from an independent production company called Basement Films. However, the corporation delayed airing it until the review into Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone was released. The documentary, which includes witness accounts from frontline Palestinian health workers in Gaza and documents attacks on hospitals and clinics, was later pulled entirely and aired on Channel 4 earlier this month. Ms Turness said: 'We want to tell the stories of Gaza. We are telling the stories of Gaza. 'We've got long form projects in the pipeline. We are covering Gaza, and we're covering it with courage and without fear or favour. 'During that production, the BBC raised concerns around the social media activity of one of the journalists. Obviously, we are incredibly protective and conscious of our impartiality and our very high standards of impartiality, and we were concerned about the activity of the journalist concerned. 'We decided, in the light of those concerns, that we would pause broadcast of that documentary while waiting to see what the Peter Johnston report would bring us. 'The film company weren't happy with that pause, and they wanted the journalism to air sooner. So we were trying to find a way around that, trying to find a way without airing the documentary, to put the journalism and the voice of the doctors on our platforms. 'And then came a moment where the lead journalist went on the Today programme to talk about Israel's attacks on Iran and used language around Israel that was really not compatible with the BBC standards of impartiality and made it impossible for us to continue with the project. 'It was very difficult to imagine that it could meet the BBC standards of impartiality, and that it would have created at least a perception of partiality, had we aired it. 'And the right thing to do at that time was to walk away, because no BBC journalist could have said what that journalist said on air, and therefore we have to apply some of the same standards to those who work with us from the outside.'
South Wales Guardian
14-07-2025
- Politics
- South Wales Guardian
BBC News executive says it ‘failed' to ask right questions on Gaza documentary
It comes after a report looking into the documentary, which was removed from BBC iPlayer in February after it emerged that the child narrator was the son of a Hamas official, found that it breached BBC editorial guidelines on accuracy. The review, published on Monday, was conducted by Peter Johnston, the director of editorial complaints and reviews which is independent of BBC News, and found that 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 did not, however, find any other breaches of editorial guidelines, including breaches of impartiality, and also found no evidence that 'outside interests' 'inappropriately impacted on the programme'. Speaking on BBC's Radio 4 World At One programme, Deborah Turness, chief executive of BBC News said: 'Our current affairs teams, day in, day out, week in, week out, are creating and pushing out incredibly controversial, difficult, complex documentaries. 'We have really good, best in class systems in place, but in this we failed, and we must put in place new processes which will enable us to continue with our courageous journalism with confidence.' She also added: 'It's about accountability. And I think what you can see today is that the BBC has taken this incredibly seriously. We have led a full and thorough investigation, which we are publishing full and transparently. 'Everything is out there, and we share the action plan that we're now putting into place to prevent this kind of mistake happening again. 'We are responsible for everything that we publish and everything we broadcast. We take it incredibly seriously, and we didn't run those questions to ground.' Ms Turness also addressed a second Gaza documentary, Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, which was originally commissioned by the broadcaster from an independent production company called Basement Films. However, the corporation delayed airing it until the review into Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone was released. The documentary, which includes witness accounts from frontline Palestinian health workers in Gaza and documents attacks on hospitals and clinics, was later pulled entirely and aired on Channel 4 earlier this month. Ms Turness said: 'We want to tell the stories of Gaza. We are telling the stories of Gaza. 'We've got long form projects in the pipeline. We are covering Gaza, and we're covering it with courage and without fear or favour. 'During that production, the BBC raised concerns around the social media activity of one of the journalists. Obviously, we are incredibly protective and conscious of our impartiality and our very high standards of impartiality, and we were concerned about the activity of the journalist concerned. 'We decided, in the light of those concerns, that we would pause broadcast of that documentary while waiting to see what the Peter Johnston report would bring us. 'The film company weren't happy with that pause, and they wanted the journalism to air sooner. So we were trying to find a way around that, trying to find a way without airing the documentary, to put the journalism and the voice of the doctors on our platforms. 'And then came a moment where the lead journalist went on the Today programme to talk about Israel's attacks on Iran and used language around Israel that was really not compatible with the BBC standards of impartiality and made it impossible for us to continue with the project. 'It was very difficult to imagine that it could meet the BBC standards of impartiality, and that it would have created at least a perception of partiality, had we aired it. 'And the right thing to do at that time was to walk away, because no BBC journalist could have said what that journalist said on air, and therefore we have to apply some of the same standards to those who work with us from the outside.'
Leader Live
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Leader Live
BBC News executive says it ‘failed' to ask right questions on Gaza documentary
It comes after a report looking into the documentary, which was removed from BBC iPlayer in February after it emerged that the child narrator was the son of a Hamas official, found that it breached BBC editorial guidelines on accuracy. The review, published on Monday, was conducted by Peter Johnston, the director of editorial complaints and reviews which is independent of BBC News, and found that 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 did not, however, find any other breaches of editorial guidelines, including breaches of impartiality, and also found no evidence that 'outside interests' 'inappropriately impacted on the programme'. Speaking on BBC's Radio 4 World At One programme, Deborah Turness, chief executive of BBC News said: 'Our current affairs teams, day in, day out, week in, week out, are creating and pushing out incredibly controversial, difficult, complex documentaries. 'We have really good, best in class systems in place, but in this we failed, and we must put in place new processes which will enable us to continue with our courageous journalism with confidence.' She also added: 'It's about accountability. And I think what you can see today is that the BBC has taken this incredibly seriously. We have led a full and thorough investigation, which we are publishing full and transparently. 'Everything is out there, and we share the action plan that we're now putting into place to prevent this kind of mistake happening again. 'We are responsible for everything that we publish and everything we broadcast. We take it incredibly seriously, and we didn't run those questions to ground.' Ms Turness also addressed a second Gaza documentary, Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, which was originally commissioned by the broadcaster from an independent production company called Basement Films. However, the corporation delayed airing it until the review into Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone was released. The documentary, which includes witness accounts from frontline Palestinian health workers in Gaza and documents attacks on hospitals and clinics, was later pulled entirely and aired on Channel 4 earlier this month. Ms Turness said: 'We want to tell the stories of Gaza. We are telling the stories of Gaza. 'We've got long form projects in the pipeline. We are covering Gaza, and we're covering it with courage and without fear or favour. 'During that production, the BBC raised concerns around the social media activity of one of the journalists. Obviously, we are incredibly protective and conscious of our impartiality and our very high standards of impartiality, and we were concerned about the activity of the journalist concerned. 'We decided, in the light of those concerns, that we would pause broadcast of that documentary while waiting to see what the Peter Johnston report would bring us. 'The film company weren't happy with that pause, and they wanted the journalism to air sooner. So we were trying to find a way around that, trying to find a way without airing the documentary, to put the journalism and the voice of the doctors on our platforms. 'And then came a moment where the lead journalist went on the Today programme to talk about Israel's attacks on Iran and used language around Israel that was really not compatible with the BBC standards of impartiality and made it impossible for us to continue with the project. 'It was very difficult to imagine that it could meet the BBC standards of impartiality, and that it would have created at least a perception of partiality, had we aired it. 'And the right thing to do at that time was to walk away, because no BBC journalist could have said what that journalist said on air, and therefore we have to apply some of the same standards to those who work with us from the outside.'
Spectator
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Spectator
Gaza documentary report finds BBC misled viewers
Back to the BBC, which is better at making the news than breaking it these days. This afternoon a report has found that the Beeb's Gaza documentary that was narrated by the son of a Hamas official breached editorial guidelines and misled audiences. The review adds that viewers 'should have been informed' about the identity of the film's narrator – which was known by three people at the production company but, however, not by anyone at the BBC ahead of the documentary's release. The head of BBC News, Deborah Turness, apologised today over the BBC's lack of oversight and admitted this afternoon that: 'At BBC News, we are fully accountable. And we didn't run those questions to ground.' Oo er. Turness's apology comes after a rather controversial Gaza documentary – titled 'Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone' – was first released by the corporation and then pulled from streaming services after it emerged the narrator was not only the son of a Hamas minister but was paid for his part in the film. At the time, Turness sent an email around her staff taking aim at the production company Hoyo Films before confessing that the institution was partly responsible for the problems with the documentary. 'Nothing is more important than the trust that audiences have in our journalism,' she wrote. 'This incident has damaged that trust. While the intent of the documentary was aligned with our purpose – to tell the story of what is happening around the world, even in the most difficult and dangerous places – the processes and execution of this programme fell short of our expectations.' Today's report slammed the Beeb for not being 'sufficiently proactive', noting that there was a 'lack of critical oversight' of unanswered questions over the identity of the film's narrator. However the probe concluded that payments to the boy and his family of £1,817 were in fact 'reasonable'. When quizzed today on the BBC's own World At One show, Turness admits that staff at the BBC 'should have known'. She added that 'their questions should have been answered at the many times of asking' by the production company and says that the Beeb 'should have investigated more'. You can say that again! And even Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy waded in, pressing the Beeb on why no one has been fired yet. When quizzed on this today, Turness responded cagily: 'I just think it's not right and not appropriate for me to pre-judge and pre-determine a process that needs to have its time.' Could heads roll over the whole debacle? Watch this space…
