Gosh, who'd have thought wartime reporters came under pressure from both sides?
http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,1853460,00.html
The BBC's head of newsgathering has defended the corporation's coverage of the recent Middle East conflict, saying it was not considered necessary to precede its broadcasts with references to the censorship rules operated by both Israel and Hizbollah.
Responding to criticism claiming that the BBC's coverage of the Lebanon conflict has been both too pro-Israeli and too pro-Hizbollah, Fran Unsworth said today it had been decided to only refer to censorship rules when they had infringed independent reporting, but this had not occurred.
In Lebanon, Unsworth said Hizbollah had asked the BBC not to broadcast the exact locations of its rocket firing so as not to "endanger civilian lives", after one live transmission showed the site of a launch.
"We agreed that rather than begin each broadcast with a 'health warning' to audiences, we would only refer to it if it was relevant," she added on the BBC News website's editors blog.
"If rockets started to go off while were live on air, we would not show the exact location but would tell the audience that we had been asked by Hizbollah not to on the grounds they claimed it endangered civilian lives.
"In the event the situation never arose. Apart from that one incident, we have been free to report whatever we wanted."
In Israel, Unsworth said all journalists had to sign a press accreditation form stating they would not report any Hizbollah hits on military bases, any ministerial visits to the frontline, the location of rockets that land while live on air and military casualties, until permission is given.
"On the Israeli side, we agreed to refer to the censorship rules when it prevented us from reporting anything," she added.
"In practice, it never did, so we did not see the need to mention it. In practice, Israel finds these rules very hard to enforce. It is a small, talkative country and the media usually finds out about casualties quickly.
"The rolling news networks based outside the country are not bound by the censorship rules, so if they find out from other sources they will broadcast."
Originally posted by dottewellFunnily enough, I did notice a sharp shift in direction after then Quanna bombing (the one where lots of kiddies died).
Gosh, who'd have thought wartime reporters came under pressure from both sides?
http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,1853460,00.html
The BBC's head of newsgathering has defended the corporation's coverage of the recent Middle East conflict, saying it was not considered necessary to precede its broadcasts with references to the censorship rules o ...[text shortened]... ensorship rules, so if they find out from other sources they will broadcast."
Before then I found the BBC very pro-Israeli and after that it became far more balanced, perhaps even critical of the Israeli regime.
Originally posted by ivanhoeYou've posted this elsewhere.
"How Orla Guerin Ruined My Afternoon; or, BBC Bias Exposed."
http://www.shinesforall.com/archives/2006/08/bbc_reporters_b.html
Are you going to address the substance of this thread? Or are you just going to behave like the resident forum terrorist?
