Demand BBC's Commitment to Impartial Journalism through Financial action!
Demand BBC's Commitment to Impartial Journalism through Financial action!
The Issue
Important!
This is a pledge to involving subscription to a TV license, if you don't have one, please share it around! To fully organise and show our strength to the BBC, check out our TV License pledge on https://arabcommunity.org/bbc.
Why are we pressuring the BBC?
The BBC has clearly strayed from its core aim to “create a single national conversation”, with impartiality in its founding DNA.
Even though the BBC’s values mention “independent”, “impartial” and “truthful”, the British citizenry has witnessed clear bias and selectivity on what is being reported to the public, and how. This spans across hundreds of domestic and foreign issues, including Brexit, LGBTQ, environmental, and foreign conflicts (evidence provided below). Yet, the foremost example of this is their reporting of the War in Gaza.
To bring the national conversation back and return the BBC’s strong journalistic reputation, we are pressuring the BBC to uphold clear and strict impartiality guidelines.
What kicked this project off?
The lack of impartial reporting by the BBC has been rampant across many issues, but most recently during the current Israel-Gaza War.
More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed. Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza by blocking aid and destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure and Israel continues to block humanitarian aid.
Yet, the BBC has failed to impartially report on the Israel-Gaza war to the British public, providing limited context on the asymmetric nature of the conflict, which existed decades prior to 7 October. One clear example is the BBC’s lack of coverage of South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the ICJ.
(Update: 10/03/24) Though they have reacted to the backlash and started to report in a more balanced way, it's still clearly biased in ways of downplaying or headline emotional engineering. Furthermore, they have not issued public apologies for previous shortcomings though many complaints have been sent. (evidence provided below).
(Update: 07/07/24) The bias has manifested more clearly again with the headlines and content with slight doubts that cause emotional engineering. Claiming that the information out gaza is unclear and avoiding to name the amount of the civilians murdered by the israeli militant forces. Meanwhile in the Ukraine war, there is explicit mention (evidence below)
3 reasons why you should join this action:
A mis-informed British public is damaging to Britain and the world.
A well-informed British public is essential for the healthy functioning of British society. Misinformation by the BBC has already led to global misunderstandings, threatened democracy, and caused public health risks.
Biased and narrative journalism is damaging to the BBC’s reputation and Britain’s reputation.
Impartial and accurate reporting is vital for maintaining the integrity of the BBC and the country it represents. There has already been damage to Britain’s reputation abroad and an erosion of public trust in the BBC and other British institutions that are associated with it.
The BBC license fee is expected to increase by £13 in 2024.
On top of the BBC’s failure to deliver on its commitment to impartiality, its fee continues to increase. As a publicly-funded institution, the BBC is answerable to the public, and the British public should demand high-quality, impartial journalism.
How can you help?
To pressure the BBC, we are collecting pledges from households willing to cancel their BBC License unless the BBC returns to impartial journalism.
You can help in 3 steps:
1. Sign this change.org petition
Hit the “Sign the Petition” button above to join the hundreds and thousands already showing their support.
2. Important! Sign the pledge on our website.
To truly join the action and act collectively, sign the pledge on arabcommunity.org/bbc.
We only need your name, email and postcode to get you onboard.
Everything captured is secure and anonymized. We will never look at or show your details to anyone.
If our action is successful in pressuring the BBC towards impartiality, then we’ll keep you informed.
If the BBC establishment remains headstrong against neutrality, we'll send you details about the big day that thousands of households will join together and cancel their TV License in protest.
3. Tell your friends and family!
The more households we have on our team, the stronger we can pressure the BBC to rethink their clearly biased strategy.
Keep an eye on updates!
This is a journey - and we want you to feel like part of the team. We'll keep you updated on signatures and our discussions.
Evidence of BBC bias
Brexit Bias of BBC.
"If you go back to the statements made during the campaign – the promise of £350m for the NHS, or the claim that the EU was undemocratic, or that immigration poster – it was all taken as read, and then someone on the Remain side had to take the opposing view, as if both claims were of equal weight. It was a very skewed way of reporting and I don’t think we’ve necessarily moved forward from there.
The BBC have a responsibility to interrogate lies and half-truths; otherwise the quality of their output becomes less robust.
Looking at the BBC’s reporting of Nigel Farage’s speech last month when he talked about putting the fear of god into MPs, it was a former BBC war reporter, Patrick Howse, who said the coverage made him feel ashamed for the corporation. The whole speech was covered, and the bit about putting the fear of god into MPs who didn’t comply with your wishes wasn’t cut. The BBC has a responsibility to call out things like that, which stir up real abusive behaviour, but they didn’t. Brexit is such a complex issue and I think more training for journalists would be useful, so that they can have greater understanding of the facts."
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/may/26/bbc-news-brexit-balance-bias
The Israel-Gaza war.
The BBC has undermined Palestinian voices by shrugging them off as unreliable. The Israeli government’s statements and misinformation on the other hand is taken at face value by the BBC. Every Palestinian, Arab and Muslim voice has been asked to condemn Hamas on BBC shows, while pro-Israeli guests are not consistently asked to condemn Israel’s violations of international law.
The BBC uses biased language in its reporting on Israelis and Palestinians.
“The victims are among at least 700 people killed on the Israeli side” – “With more than 400 also dead in Gaza”, is a mere example of biased use of language in BBCs reporting. Another is the BBC quoting the names and details of 13 Israeli hostages who were released. The 39 Palestinians released, including 33 Palestinian children, remained nameless and faceless in BBC reports.
Further Evidence (6/05/2024):
Choosing to under-report protest numbers:
BBC Headline: Tens of thousands at pro-Palestinian march in London, 2nd march
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68326846
When actually:
450,000 join London Palestine march as Israel prepares for Rafah invasion
BBC headline: Tens of thousands at pro-Palestinian march in London, 17th Feb
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68326846
When actually:
More than 200,000 pro-Palestine protesters to march through London near Israeli embassy
Choosing to make headlines to scare people, yet providing counter evidence at the bottom of the article:
Adviser warns London a 'no-go zone for Jews every weekend' headline is irresponsible,
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68508351
yet in a separate BBC article "The reality is, you will see these are people from all walks of life from many backgrounds who here marching for peace, and as the police themselves admit these marches are overwhelmingly peaceful," Ben Jamal added.
Choosing to still use different terms for Palestinians than for israeli casualties:
Choosing to avoid mentioning Rubber bullets, Stun grenades and Tear gas that the police at UCLA were using to break down the student encampments:
And claiming that the pro-israeli protestors clashed with the pro-palestine side. In addition to no mention of crimes against pro-palestine protestors by pro-israeli protesters, mentioning only arrests and attributed crime of pro-palestine protesters:
Link to articles documenting the police violence:
Evidence (07/07/2024):
Headline - Four hostages rescued from Gaza, as hospitals say scores killed in Israeli strikes
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-69102543
Constantly dismissing sources from gaza even though the UN stated they are credible
https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-did-un-halve-gaza-death-toll-1900325
Compare that to;
Ukraine war: Russian air strikes claim five lives in Kyiv and Mykolaiv
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68224416
311
The Issue
Important!
This is a pledge to involving subscription to a TV license, if you don't have one, please share it around! To fully organise and show our strength to the BBC, check out our TV License pledge on https://arabcommunity.org/bbc.
Why are we pressuring the BBC?
The BBC has clearly strayed from its core aim to “create a single national conversation”, with impartiality in its founding DNA.
Even though the BBC’s values mention “independent”, “impartial” and “truthful”, the British citizenry has witnessed clear bias and selectivity on what is being reported to the public, and how. This spans across hundreds of domestic and foreign issues, including Brexit, LGBTQ, environmental, and foreign conflicts (evidence provided below). Yet, the foremost example of this is their reporting of the War in Gaza.
To bring the national conversation back and return the BBC’s strong journalistic reputation, we are pressuring the BBC to uphold clear and strict impartiality guidelines.
What kicked this project off?
The lack of impartial reporting by the BBC has been rampant across many issues, but most recently during the current Israel-Gaza War.
More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed. Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza by blocking aid and destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure and Israel continues to block humanitarian aid.
Yet, the BBC has failed to impartially report on the Israel-Gaza war to the British public, providing limited context on the asymmetric nature of the conflict, which existed decades prior to 7 October. One clear example is the BBC’s lack of coverage of South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the ICJ.
(Update: 10/03/24) Though they have reacted to the backlash and started to report in a more balanced way, it's still clearly biased in ways of downplaying or headline emotional engineering. Furthermore, they have not issued public apologies for previous shortcomings though many complaints have been sent. (evidence provided below).
(Update: 07/07/24) The bias has manifested more clearly again with the headlines and content with slight doubts that cause emotional engineering. Claiming that the information out gaza is unclear and avoiding to name the amount of the civilians murdered by the israeli militant forces. Meanwhile in the Ukraine war, there is explicit mention (evidence below)
3 reasons why you should join this action:
A mis-informed British public is damaging to Britain and the world.
A well-informed British public is essential for the healthy functioning of British society. Misinformation by the BBC has already led to global misunderstandings, threatened democracy, and caused public health risks.
Biased and narrative journalism is damaging to the BBC’s reputation and Britain’s reputation.
Impartial and accurate reporting is vital for maintaining the integrity of the BBC and the country it represents. There has already been damage to Britain’s reputation abroad and an erosion of public trust in the BBC and other British institutions that are associated with it.
The BBC license fee is expected to increase by £13 in 2024.
On top of the BBC’s failure to deliver on its commitment to impartiality, its fee continues to increase. As a publicly-funded institution, the BBC is answerable to the public, and the British public should demand high-quality, impartial journalism.
How can you help?
To pressure the BBC, we are collecting pledges from households willing to cancel their BBC License unless the BBC returns to impartial journalism.
You can help in 3 steps:
1. Sign this change.org petition
Hit the “Sign the Petition” button above to join the hundreds and thousands already showing their support.
2. Important! Sign the pledge on our website.
To truly join the action and act collectively, sign the pledge on arabcommunity.org/bbc.
We only need your name, email and postcode to get you onboard.
Everything captured is secure and anonymized. We will never look at or show your details to anyone.
If our action is successful in pressuring the BBC towards impartiality, then we’ll keep you informed.
If the BBC establishment remains headstrong against neutrality, we'll send you details about the big day that thousands of households will join together and cancel their TV License in protest.
3. Tell your friends and family!
The more households we have on our team, the stronger we can pressure the BBC to rethink their clearly biased strategy.
Keep an eye on updates!
This is a journey - and we want you to feel like part of the team. We'll keep you updated on signatures and our discussions.
Evidence of BBC bias
Brexit Bias of BBC.
"If you go back to the statements made during the campaign – the promise of £350m for the NHS, or the claim that the EU was undemocratic, or that immigration poster – it was all taken as read, and then someone on the Remain side had to take the opposing view, as if both claims were of equal weight. It was a very skewed way of reporting and I don’t think we’ve necessarily moved forward from there.
The BBC have a responsibility to interrogate lies and half-truths; otherwise the quality of their output becomes less robust.
Looking at the BBC’s reporting of Nigel Farage’s speech last month when he talked about putting the fear of god into MPs, it was a former BBC war reporter, Patrick Howse, who said the coverage made him feel ashamed for the corporation. The whole speech was covered, and the bit about putting the fear of god into MPs who didn’t comply with your wishes wasn’t cut. The BBC has a responsibility to call out things like that, which stir up real abusive behaviour, but they didn’t. Brexit is such a complex issue and I think more training for journalists would be useful, so that they can have greater understanding of the facts."
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/may/26/bbc-news-brexit-balance-bias
The Israel-Gaza war.
The BBC has undermined Palestinian voices by shrugging them off as unreliable. The Israeli government’s statements and misinformation on the other hand is taken at face value by the BBC. Every Palestinian, Arab and Muslim voice has been asked to condemn Hamas on BBC shows, while pro-Israeli guests are not consistently asked to condemn Israel’s violations of international law.
The BBC uses biased language in its reporting on Israelis and Palestinians.
“The victims are among at least 700 people killed on the Israeli side” – “With more than 400 also dead in Gaza”, is a mere example of biased use of language in BBCs reporting. Another is the BBC quoting the names and details of 13 Israeli hostages who were released. The 39 Palestinians released, including 33 Palestinian children, remained nameless and faceless in BBC reports.
Further Evidence (6/05/2024):
Choosing to under-report protest numbers:
BBC Headline: Tens of thousands at pro-Palestinian march in London, 2nd march
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68326846
When actually:
450,000 join London Palestine march as Israel prepares for Rafah invasion
BBC headline: Tens of thousands at pro-Palestinian march in London, 17th Feb
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68326846
When actually:
More than 200,000 pro-Palestine protesters to march through London near Israeli embassy
Choosing to make headlines to scare people, yet providing counter evidence at the bottom of the article:
Adviser warns London a 'no-go zone for Jews every weekend' headline is irresponsible,
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68508351
yet in a separate BBC article "The reality is, you will see these are people from all walks of life from many backgrounds who here marching for peace, and as the police themselves admit these marches are overwhelmingly peaceful," Ben Jamal added.
Choosing to still use different terms for Palestinians than for israeli casualties:
Choosing to avoid mentioning Rubber bullets, Stun grenades and Tear gas that the police at UCLA were using to break down the student encampments:
And claiming that the pro-israeli protestors clashed with the pro-palestine side. In addition to no mention of crimes against pro-palestine protestors by pro-israeli protesters, mentioning only arrests and attributed crime of pro-palestine protesters:
Link to articles documenting the police violence:
Evidence (07/07/2024):
Headline - Four hostages rescued from Gaza, as hospitals say scores killed in Israeli strikes
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-69102543
Constantly dismissing sources from gaza even though the UN stated they are credible
https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-did-un-halve-gaza-death-toll-1900325
Compare that to;
Ukraine war: Russian air strikes claim five lives in Kyiv and Mykolaiv
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68224416
311
Petition created on 18 January 2024