BBC Ethics Unveiled: Lies About Jerusalem, Lies About Guidelines

CAMERA

Should you trust the BBC?

The broadcaster's success depends on its reputation as a reliable and fair news organization. With an eye toward earning the public's trust, then, the BBC purports to be bound by a set of Editorial Guidelines demanding accuracy, impartiality and fairness.

Those guidelines, if taken seriously by the organization, would help ensure ethical journalism. But if ignored, they become little more than a fig leaf for biased reporting.

Recently, the BBC revealed its complete disregard of its own Editorial Guidelines when it defended an egregiously one-sided and inaccurate documentary about Jerusalem. This video investigates the flouting of these guidelines by Panorama and the disingenuous ruling of the BBC Trust's Editorial Standards Committee in support of the January 2010 segment. For more background, see CAMERA's original analysis and the BBC Editorial Standards Committee ruling.


If you'd like to protest the BBC Trust's violation of its own Editorial Guidelines, contact:

trust.enquiries@bbc.co.uk

BBC Trust
180 Great Portland St.
London W1W 5QZ

Tel: 03700 103 100