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BBC News CEO Deborah Turness has accused critics of the British broadcaster’s Israel-Gaza conflict coverage of being stuck in social media bubbles.
In a blog post marking the anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 atrocities, Turness appeared to hit back at a barrage of complaints from the UK’s Jewish community about perceived anti-Israel bias.
Turness acknowledged that the BBC has made mistakes and said she will always listen to the corporation’s “harshest critics,” but she was clear that impartiality means audiences will be served reporting that challenges their worldview.
“If there is one thing we have learned more than any other in the past year, it’s that such is the depth of the polarisation in this war, so many have come to see impartial reporting as being somehow against them, because it does not solely reflect their view of the conflict,” Turness wrote.
“Much of this is perhaps explained by social media algorithms and echo chambers that serve consumers more of what they already ‘like.’ People mostly follow people whose opinions they agree with, and as more news providers put their journalism behind paywalls, consumers increasingly subscribe to media brands that reflect their own worldview. They are increasingly living in an information ecosystem that surrounds them with their own views and opinions.
“But BBC News does not and cannot reflect any single world view. In this war, we cannot be a place where any side feels that their perspective prevails. Our job is to report fairly and impartially, to report without fear or favour. Our duty to public service journalism means we will always hear from a range of perspectives – including those you may not agree with.”
Turness said BBC News had “thoughtfully reviewed” its coverage since October 7 and its latest research shows “audiences are significantly more likely to turn to BBC News for impartial coverage of this story than to any other news provider.” She did not provide figures to support this.
Her intervention follows two separate studies from the British Jewish community that accuse the BBC of partisan reporting. On Monday, Danny Cohen, the BBC’s former television boss, published a 60-page report accusing the BBC of making “false and damaging claims about Israel’s conduct” and producing “misleading broadcasts.”
Examples included the October 17 episode of BBC News channel show The Context, during which reporter Jon Donnison speculated that Israel was behind the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital bombing. The BBC’s complaints unit said it considered the matter “resolved” after BBC News admitted it was “wrong to speculate” on the devastating blast and apologized.
A separate review in September accused the BBC of breaching its own editorial guidelines on impartiality more than 1,500 times during the height of the Israel-Hamas conflict, and revealed a “deeply worrying pattern of bias.” Overseen by lawyer Trevor Asserson, the review used AI to analyze 9M words of BBC output, but the corporation questioned the methodology.
Palestinian sympathizers have seized on other missteps to draw their own conclusions about a perceived pro-Israel conspiracy. This includes the BBC apologizing after the news channel described people taking part in marches in support of Palestine as backing Hamas, and for repeatedly overstating the October 7 death toll.
Turness joined other news organizations in calling on Israel to allow journalists access to Gaza. She added that the BBC is also being blocked by Hezbollah from accessing some areas of Lebanon. “Being an eyewitness to war requires courage – but it also requires access,” she said.
