Over 400 media figures urge BBC to remove board member over alleged Gaza bias
London: More than 400 media professionals, including 111 current BBC journalists, have signed an open letter calling for the removal of BBC board member Sir Robbie Gibb, citing concerns about his alleged influence on the broadcaster’s coverage of Gaza.
Addressed to BBC Director-General Tim Davie and the BBC Board, the letter accuses Gibb, a former political advisor to ex-Prime Minister Theresa May, of compromising the BBC’s editorial independence due to his prior association with The Jewish Chronicle, a publication often criticised for its anti-Palestinian stance. Gibb served as a director at the paper until August 2024.
The signatories argue that Gibb’s position on the BBC Board and the Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee is “untenable” given his role in the 2020 acquisition of The Jewish Chronicle. They allege his presence has contributed to a pattern of editorial decisions that marginalise Palestinian perspectives.
Central to the controversy is the BBC’s decision to shelve the documentary Gaza: Medics Under Fire, which Channel 4 later broadcast. The documentary includes accounts of detention, torture, and killings of medical workers in Gaza. The letter states, “We believe the refusal to broadcast the documentary Gaza: Medics Under Fire is just one in a long line of agenda-driven decisions.”
Among the signatories are public figures including actress Miriam Margolyes, filmmaker Mike Leigh, actor Charles Dance, and historian William Dalrymple. The letter alleges that the BBC has repeatedly failed to reflect the realities of the situation in Gaza and the West Bank, citing a “gulf between BBC’s coverage and what our audiences can see is happening via multiple credible sources, including human rights organisations, UN staff, and journalists on the ground.”
A January 2025 analysis by Declassified UK is also referenced in the letter. The analysis criticised the BBC’s limited coverage of UK-Israel military and political ties, including arms transfers using British airspace, visits by Israeli military officials, and lobbying in Westminster.
Former BBC presenter and footballer Gary Lineker also weighed in, saying the BBC “should hold its head in shame” for not airing the Gaza documentary.
In response, a BBC spokesperson defended the organisation’s editorial process, stating, “Robust discussions amongst our editorial teams about our journalism are an essential part of the editorial process.” The BBC pointed to recent programmes including Life and Death in Gaza and Gaza 101 as evidence of its commitment to balanced reporting.
The Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM) had also criticised the BBC in a 180-page report last month. The study, titled BBC on Gaza-Israel: One Story, Double Standards, analysed over 3,800 articles and 32,000 broadcast segments, concluding that the BBC systematically downplayed Palestinian suffering while giving disproportionate coverage to Israeli perspectives.
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
