CAMERA Complaint Prompts BBC Trust Ruling Against Mideast Editor Jeremy Bowen

BOSTON - BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen has violated the broadcaster’s ethical guidelines calling for impartiality and accuracy. The BBC Trust finding (www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/appeals/esc_bulletins/2009/mar.pdf) (Summary of Findings on p. 4), published on April 15, amplifies concerns that BBC’s coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict is biased against Israel.

(Logo: www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090416/DC00207LOGO )

The decision by the BBC’s top decision-making body comes in response to a formal complaint filed by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) (www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=4&x_outlet=12&x_article=1655), and a similar complaint filed independently by a member of the U.K.-based Zionist Federation.

CAMERA’s complaint charged that Bowen’s June 4, 2007 feature about the Six-Day War and its aftermath was marred by “serious omissions, exaggerations and outright anti-Israel bias.”

Gilead Ini, the CAMERA analyst who prepared the complaint, said, “Acknowledging the glaring problems in Bowen’s reporting is a good first step, but there are wider implications here. Not only did the BBC’s senior journalist in the Middle East show bias in his reporting, he also made it clear, in his defense before the BBC Trust, that he thinks it’s reasonable to report solely from the Palestinian perspective and ignore other mainstream narratives.”

Ini adds that the ruling, and Bowen’s attempts to defend the inaccurate and partial report, cast doubt on his suitability as a BBC journalist. “There’s good reason to be skeptical of Mr. Bowen’s reporting, and by extension, the reporting of BBC reporters who are subordinate to him.”

The ESC finding that “the article had breached the guideline on impartiality” came after an independent advisor commissioned by the BBC described Bowen’s report as “firmly” adhering to the controversial revisionist view of Middle East history, and “unqualified by an acknowledgment that the … ‘mainstream’ opinion might have some weight too.”

The advisor had consulted with mainstream historian Martin Gilbert and revisionist historian Avi Shlaim, who both agreed that aspects of Bowen’s piece were not accurate.

Details about the complaint will be published shortly on www.camera.org.

CAMERA (the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America), a national non-profit media-monitoring organization headquartered in Boston, works to promote accurate, balanced and complete coverage of Israel and the Middle East. A non-partisan 501(c)3 organization, CAMERA takes no position with regard to American or Israeli political issues or with regard to ultimate solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Source: Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America

Gilead Ini, Senior Research Analyst of CAMERA, +1-617-789-3672, gilead at camera.org; Logo: www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090416/DC00207LOGO