8 BBC Journalists write letter to Al-Jazeera, accuse BBC of unfair reportage on Israel-Palestine
London: Eight BBC journalists based in the United Kingdom wrote a 2,300-word letter to Al Jazeera, accusing their employer of a "double standard" in its reporting on Israel and Palestine. The letter claimed that the BBC has failed to accurately convey the situation, particularly regarding human rights abuses in Gaza, through omission and a lack of critical engagement with Israel's claims.
While the BBC is accused of naming Israeli victims and interviewing affected families, the letter emphasized a lack of humanizing coverage for Palestinian civilians. The journalists argued that Palestinians are often asked to condemn Hamas, while guests defending Israel are not equally asked to condemn the actions of the Israeli government.
The letter questioned when the number of Palestinian casualties would be considered high enough for the BBC's editorial stance to change, urging the organization to better reflect and defer to the evidence-based findings of unbiased humanitarian organizations.
According to Al Jazeera, the journalists highlighted that the BBC's coverage began to humanize Palestinian civilians more in recent weeks as civilian deaths increased, suggesting that this shift came too late and indicated undue influence from the positions of the UK and US governments.
In response to the letter, a BBC spokesperson denied the allegations, stating that when interviewing the Israeli government, Hamas, Palestinian representatives, or other leaders, the BBC aims to be robust, challenging, and hold power to account.
The letter did not disclose the identities of the eight BBC journalists who penned it.
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Supreme Court rejects plea for reverting to ballots in elections
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking to revert to ballot paper voting in elections in the country.
"What happens is, when you win the election, EVMs (electronic voting machine) are not tampered. When you lose the election, EVMs are tampered (with)," remarked a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and P B Varale.
Apart from ballot paper voting, the plea sought several directions including a directive to the Election Commission to disqualify candidates for a minimum of five years if found guilty of distributing money, liquor or other material inducement to the voters during polls.
When petitioner-in-person K A Paul said he filed the PIL, the bench said, "You have interesting PILs. How do you get these brilliant ideas?".
The petitioner said he is the president of an organisation which has rescued over three lakh orphans and 40 lakh widows.
"Why are you getting into this political arena? Your area of work is very different," the bench retorted.
After Paul revealed he had been to over 150 countries, the bench asked him whether each of the nations had ballot paper voting or used electronic voting.
The petitioner said foreign countries had adopted ballot paper voting and India should follow suit.
"Why you don't want to be different from the rest of the world?" asked the bench.
There was corruption and this year (2024) in June, the Election Commission announced they had seized Rs 9,000 crore, Paul responded.
"But how does that make your relief which you are claiming here relevant?" asked the bench, adding "if you shift back to physical ballot, will there be no corruption?".
Paul claimed CEO and co-founder of Tesla, Elon Musk, stated that EVMs could be tampered with and added TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, the current chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, and former state chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had claimed EVMs could be tampered with.
"When Chandrababu Naidu lost, he said EVMs can be tampered with. Now this time, Jagan Mohan Reddy lost, he said EVMs can be tampered with," noted the bench.
When the petitioner said everybody knew money was distributed in elections, the bench remarked, "We never received any money for any elections."
The petitioner said another prayer in his plea was the formulation of a comprehensive framework to regulate the use of money and liquor during election campaigns and ensuring such practices were prohibited and punishable under the law.
The plea further sought a direction to mandate an extensive voter education campaign to raise awareness and importance of informed decision making.
"Today, 32 per cent educated people are not casting their votes. What a tragedy. If democracy will be dying like this and we will not be able to do anything then what will happen in the years to come in future," the petitioner said.
