Complaint
A viewer complained the programme lacked impartiality because it included reports on suffering in Gaza without equivalent coverage of events in Israel. Β The ECU considered whether the broadcast met ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ standards of impartiality as set out in the Editorial Guidelines.
Outcome
The Guidelines make clear impartiality is resistant to simple quantification, and does not, for example, require reports on deaths on one side of a conflict to be βbalancedβ with reference to deaths on another β particularly where the conflict is asymmetric.
On this particular day, the focus was on fighting in Gaza, as there had been aerial bombardment there, with the deaths of 178 civilians reported in places Gazans had previously been told to go to by the Israeli military. Β To ensure due impartiality, Israelβs position (that it was striking Hamas in its strongholds) was reflected in the programme. Β A correspondent also set out Israelβs argument that Hamas was to blame for the bombing, as it had fired rockets and refused to release hostages.
Not Upheld