The BBC's Blind Spot: A Crisis of Impartiality in Gaza Coverage
How Raffi Berg's Editorial Control and Pro-Israel Bias Undermines Journalistic Integrity at the world's most influential news organisation
If you’ve been paying even the slightest bit of attention to the media lately, you’ve likely stumbled across the name ‘Raffi Berg’—the BBC’s online Middle East editor, who seems to have taken it upon himself to redefine the term “impartiality.”
The BBC, once regarded the bastion of journalistic integrity, is now facing a significant backlash from its own staff for its dehumanising coverage of the genocide in Gaza.
Hardcore news people of course know that the BBC really lost its last ounce of impartiality and integrity back in 2003 during the Hutton Inquiry when it again chose “the government line” over actual journalism, but even then things didn’t get as bad as we’re seeing today.
It seems today, uncritically regurgitating Israeli government propaganda is the new standard for “balanced reporting.”
British independent Journalist Owen Jones has been doing a stellar job exposing this farce in collaboration with Drop Site News (linked below), shedding light on how the BBC has twisted narratives and buried facts about what numerous international organisations, governments, and NGOs have officially labelled as a genocide.
This is where I’d normally ask “give me a sub”, but sub to Drop Site News (above) first.
But who needs facts when you have Raffi Berg calling the shots? BBC staffers are claiming he has an iron grip on every story that touches on Palestine, with every report needing his personal seal of approval. Talk about a one-man editorial board!
Back in November, I published one of my most-read articles on Substack, where I compared the BBC’s coverage to that of Al Jazeera. Spoiler alert: the differences were as glaring as a neon sign, it’s also linked at the end of this article.
The BBC has clearly decided to play fast and loose with the truth, all while pretending to uphold its own editorial standards.
And let’s not forget the pièce de résistance: a charming photo of Berg holding up his book in both English and Hebrew. How quaint! It’s almost as if he’s trying to prove his credentials. Oh, and did I mention he has a framed letter from Benjamin Netanyahu and a picture with former Israeli ambassador Mark Regev right behind him? Yeah, nothing screams neutrality like a wall of pro-Israel memorabilia!
Meanwhile, the number of Muslim, Arab, and “brown” journalists who’ve been sidelined by the BBC for being “too close” to the story is staggering. You know, those pesky individuals who dared to question the justification for bombing hospitals or who signed petitions calling for an end to the killing of Palestinian journalists. Many of those real, local, independent journalists or those working for Al Jazeera aren’t so pesky today, mostly on account of being dead. Targeted and killed by the IDF, either killed by single shot bullets to the head or by “surgical precision” missile attacks on their homes killing them, their families and in many cases every other person in the same building… Because it turns out, Israel is happy to kill ten, twenty, thirty, or even hundreds of innocent people, just to silence one truth telling journalist with the bravery that no BBC journalists covering this nightmare seem to any longer employ.
Many of those who have escaped death have simply walked away from the industry, and who can blame them with those costs.
But fear not! White, Jewish journalists with pro-Israel leanings, IDF backgrounds, and Israeli citizenships are leading the charge in the headlines and editorial processes. It’s almost as if there’s a racial divide at play here, but let’s not get too bogged down in inconvenient truths.
Acknowledging the structural racism that allows the genocide of Palestinians to continue with journalistic impunity would be far too much to ask.
So, bravo to the BBC for their spectacular display of bias and for turning a blind eye to the ethno-supremacy underpinning this tragedy. Their commitment to impartiality is truly inspiring—if only it were real.
Media Mirrors: Unmasking the Israel-Palestine Conflict through Al Jazeera and the BBC
The Israel-Palestine conflict is one of the world’s most polarising geopolitical struggles, its deep-seated complexities and catastrophic human costs are often obscured by selective media coverage. For those analysing recent events, a revealing exercise lies in comparing how news organisations compare when it comes to their coverage of the same events.
BBC and The Truth are polar opposites!
"Meanwhile, the number of Muslim, Arab, and “brown” journalists who’ve been sidelined by the BBC for being “too close” to the story is staggering. You know, those pesky individuals who dared to question the justification for bombing hospitals or who signed petitions calling for an end to the killing of Palestinian journalists. Many of those real, local, independent journalists or those working for Al Jazeera aren’t so pesky today, mostly on account of being dead. Targeted and killed by the IDF, either killed by single shot bullets to the head or by “surgical precision” missile attacks on their homes killing them, their families and in many cases every other person in the same building… Because it turns out, Israel is happy to kill ten, twenty, thirty, or even hundreds of innocent people, just to silence one truth telling journalist with the bravery that no BBC journalists covering this nightmare seem to any longer employ."