BBC obstructs Gaza relief effort
Complaint sent to the BBC. Please do the same.
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Dear Sir or Madam
I have just read on the Guardian's website that the BBC has chosen not to air an urgent appeal by the Disasters Emergency Committee to raise money for the thousands of homeless and wounded in Gaza. I am genuinely taken aback by this extraordinary decision.
With $2bn of infrastructure destroyed by the recent attacks on Gaza, 84% of people there reporting having problems accessing food, 400,000 without water, and 35,000 left in UN shelters the situation for ordinary people in Gaza is desperate, even life-threatening, as your own reporting shows.
The Guardian quotes your spokesperson as saying: "The BBC decision was made because of question marks about the delivery of aid in a volatile situation and also to avoid any risk of compromising public confidence in the BBC's impartiality in the context of an ongoing news story".
Let me address the second of these justifications first. If two bar brawlers are taken to hospital, the doctors do not try to decide who was in the right before treating them. It is an objective fact that there are ordinary, innocent people in Gaza - people like you, me or our families - in desperate need of the basics for mere survival. Helping in the provision of aid so that an infant child can eat or receive medical care could only "compromise confidence in the BBC's impartiality" in the eyes of someone who was either heartless or insane. Is the BBC so keen not to offend such people that it is prepared to effectively obstruct the ability of aid agencies to provide relief in Gaza? Are these really the corporation's priorities?
The other justification given by your spokesperson is flatly contradicted by the DEC, an umbrella organisation for 13 of the world's leading aid agencies. It is hard to believe that the BBC really thinks it can judge the feasibility of relief-provision better than the experts in the field. That being the case, the second justification appears to be the real reason for this rare breach of the BBC's agreement with the aid agencies, while the first justification rather looks like padding. To refuse to assist in the aid effort for the people of Gaza is one thing. To palm them off with PR is something else.
The DEC's chief executive, Brendan Gormley, is quoted in the Guardian as saying that the decision could have a big impact on its appeal. "We are used to our appeal getting into every household and offering a safe and necessary way for people to respond. This time we will have to work a lot harder because we won't have the free airtime or the powerful impact of appearing on every TV and radio station."
It is shameful - chilling, in fact - that the BBC should be responsible for this. I demand that this decision is reversed immediately. Please do not provide me with a response explaining why the decision has not been reversed. Please instead do what I'm sure you know is the only decent thing. Air the appeal immediately.
David Wearing
PhD Candidate
School of Public Policy
University College London
*********
Dear Sir or Madam
I have just read on the Guardian's website that the BBC has chosen not to air an urgent appeal by the Disasters Emergency Committee to raise money for the thousands of homeless and wounded in Gaza. I am genuinely taken aback by this extraordinary decision.
With $2bn of infrastructure destroyed by the recent attacks on Gaza, 84% of people there reporting having problems accessing food, 400,000 without water, and 35,000 left in UN shelters the situation for ordinary people in Gaza is desperate, even life-threatening, as your own reporting shows.
The Guardian quotes your spokesperson as saying: "The BBC decision was made because of question marks about the delivery of aid in a volatile situation and also to avoid any risk of compromising public confidence in the BBC's impartiality in the context of an ongoing news story".
Let me address the second of these justifications first. If two bar brawlers are taken to hospital, the doctors do not try to decide who was in the right before treating them. It is an objective fact that there are ordinary, innocent people in Gaza - people like you, me or our families - in desperate need of the basics for mere survival. Helping in the provision of aid so that an infant child can eat or receive medical care could only "compromise confidence in the BBC's impartiality" in the eyes of someone who was either heartless or insane. Is the BBC so keen not to offend such people that it is prepared to effectively obstruct the ability of aid agencies to provide relief in Gaza? Are these really the corporation's priorities?
The other justification given by your spokesperson is flatly contradicted by the DEC, an umbrella organisation for 13 of the world's leading aid agencies. It is hard to believe that the BBC really thinks it can judge the feasibility of relief-provision better than the experts in the field. That being the case, the second justification appears to be the real reason for this rare breach of the BBC's agreement with the aid agencies, while the first justification rather looks like padding. To refuse to assist in the aid effort for the people of Gaza is one thing. To palm them off with PR is something else.
The DEC's chief executive, Brendan Gormley, is quoted in the Guardian as saying that the decision could have a big impact on its appeal. "We are used to our appeal getting into every household and offering a safe and necessary way for people to respond. This time we will have to work a lot harder because we won't have the free airtime or the powerful impact of appearing on every TV and radio station."
It is shameful - chilling, in fact - that the BBC should be responsible for this. I demand that this decision is reversed immediately. Please do not provide me with a response explaining why the decision has not been reversed. Please instead do what I'm sure you know is the only decent thing. Air the appeal immediately.
David Wearing
PhD Candidate
School of Public Policy
University College London
Labels: Israel/Palestine, Media
posted by David Wearing at 7:41 AM
2 Comments:
Hiya TDD,
excellent letter.
I hope you don't mind my unexpected (and lengthy)comments,
but just to say that although I am not a member of the Media Lens Messege Board, I use it on a daily basis and enjoy reading your comments and contributions.
Just to let you know that the Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), David Miliband, has already stated in Parliament that aid agencies should be the ones leading the way in helping Gaza.
Below is my letter to the BBC. I also sent an edited verion to the David Miliband at the Foreign Office and I now intend to send an email letter to the David Alexander, Minister for the Department for International Development
Letter as follows -
Dear BBC,
thank you for taking time to read my compliant.
I wish to complain about the fact that the BBC has decided it will not run appeals on its broadcast networks on behalf of the DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee) Gaza Crisis Appeal.
See link for more detail -
'22 Jan: Aid agencies launch joint appeal to relieve Gaza humanitarian crisis'
http://www.dec.org.uk/item/311
I was under the impression the British Government was going to do all it can to help relief and aid efforts for the suffering people of Gaza.
The British Prime Minister promised the House of Commons -
"We have trebled our support for humanitarian aid, we are helping to transfer children from Gaza into hospitals, we are trying to get rid of the unexploded bombs in the area by working with people in the region, and at the same time we will give all the food aid and all the support aid we can. There has been a terrible catastrophe over recent weeks. We must do everything we can now to help the people of Gaza"
(Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister, House of Commons debates, Wednesday 19 January 2009)
The British Secretary of State, David Milliband has even promised the House of Commons that (my emphasis),
"We will continue to support the United Nations, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent and other international agencies, WHICH HAVE THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND EXPERTISE TO LEAD THE HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE IN GAZA."
(Oral Answers to Questions - Defence
Gaza,
House of Commons debates, Monday 12 January 2009).
The Disasters Emergency Committe reads like a who's who of British and international aid agencies, the very ones the Foreign Secretary says have the expertise and wherewithal to know what they are doing in their efforts to help Gaza.
But yet, the BBC seems to think it knows more than DEC, and the Foreign Secretary, about what is good for the people of Gaza. DEC requires the BBC to broadcast its appeal to the British public but the BBC seems to be refusing to do so.
What is it the BBC knows about what is good for the suffering destitute people of Gaza that the Disaster Emergency Committee and the British Foreign Secretary don't know?
Why won't the BBC broadcast DEC's appeals given the support it has from the British Foreign Secretary and the fact the British Prime Minsister has promised to do all he can to help bring aid and relief to the people of Gaza, in no uncertain terms?
[I signed off politely as a BBC TV Licence fee payer etc etc]
all the best TDD
ps
I posted a link to your letter on the MLMB to a few blogs and internet messege boards.
Just to let you know,
JamieSW also gives you an honourable mention in his latest blog post -
BBC backs the siege
The Heathlander
23 Jan 2009
all the best!
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