BBC and DEC Appeal Controversy

Mark Thompson, director general of the BBC, defends the BBC's decision not to broadcast the Disasters Emergency Committee's Gazza appeal (Click on Post title to see the interview). Do you think he is right to claim that the broadcasting the appeal would leave the BBC open to accusations of bias? Remember, the BBC has previously broadcast similar appeals following conflicts in other parts of the world. Thompson seems to claim that this situation is particularly complex, making it more difficult to preserve impartiality if they were to broadcast it. You might also want to consider what might happen to BBC journalists on the ground in Israel and Gazza should they be viewed to be siding with the Palestinians as a result of broadcasting the appeal.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/video_and_audio/7850585.stm

Where's the bias?

This one has had me scratching my head. If you click on the title of this post it will bring you to a blog connected to the Guardian newspaper. It concerns an article on the BBC's Newsround site. There have been lots of accusations that the article is biased because it seems to either blame America for the attacks of 9/11 or justify al-Qaeda in some way.

This feeds into the article we've been reading in class recently around the issue of freedom of speech and the representation of all views in the media. Is the BBC being biased here by explaining the position of al-Qaeda or is it merely trying to fairly represent the views of all those involved in the story of 9/11? Do the accusations of bias have anything to do with the language used in the article or the way the sentences are structured ( the esteemed Mr. Graham, he of Room 81, the English corridor, thinks this may just be the case).