Complaint
A listener took issue with a report on Gaza arguing the inclusion of an Israeli claim about the bombing of a school in Gaza amounted to pro-Israel propaganda.  The ECU considered whether the broadcast met the editorial standards for accuracy and impartiality set out in the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Editorial Guidelines.
Outcome
The difference between reporting the claims of one side of a conflict and reporting accepted facts is widely understood by audiences.  Due impartiality does not require precise equivalence whereby every claim is matched by a counter-claim.  In this case, the ECU noted the report made clear what Israel had struck was “a school sheltering displaced peopleâ€, and that the dead and wounded were “another reminder of the remorseless toll of the conflictâ€.  Audiences would therefore have understood an Israeli missile had struck a school and killed and wounded people in a place where displaced people were sheltering. The inclusion of the Israeli claim – despite the absence of a precisely equivalent Palestinian account - did not therefore give rise to bias or inaccuracy.
Not upheld