The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has announced a comprehensive review of its Middle East reporting after acknowledging serious errors in its coverage of Israel during the war in Gaza.
The move follows the publication of a 13-page dossier outlining allegations of bias, as well as the leak of a memo written by independent adviser Michael Prescott. The memo asserted that BBC reporting showed a tendency to assume the worst about Israel, with BBC Arabic accused of downplaying Israeli suffering while portraying Israel as the aggressor, despite Hamas initiating the conflict with its October 7 terrorist attack.
In response to the complaints, the BBC’s Director of Editorial Complaints and Reviews, Peter Johnston, released a report addressing the allegations. Johnston conceded that the broadcaster made multiple significant mistakes, including an inaccurate claim that the International Court of Justice had found a “plausible cause of genocide” in Gaza.
The report also cited problems with casualty figures and acknowledged that a question aired on Newsnight regarding 14,000 babies at risk of starvation within 48 hours was incorrect.
Additional errors included a television report that suggested Israeli forces had buried bodies in mass graves, when the act was carried out by Hamas, and an article about Gaza medics that omitted allegations that Hamas was operating from their hospital. The BBC also admitted it failed to disclose that a narrator in a Gaza documentary was the son of a Hamas official.
Johnston said the BBC later issued corrections and accepted it was wrong to rely on freelance journalists whose social media activity indicated support for Hamas and antisemitic views. He added that the Editorial Guidance and Standards Committee had already begun implementing new training for BBC Arabic staff.
The BBC Board and the Editorial Guidance and Standards Committee are now planning a full editorial review of the corporation’s Middle East coverage, which Johnston described as the best way to assess reporting on a complex and sensitive issue and to draw necessary lessons.
The report also examined the BBC’s handling of other controversial topics, including gender identity and Britain’s colonial history, acknowledging shortcomings in its responses to criticism and calling for further internal review.