Examples of BBC Headline Distortion

[Teddy Bear]

Here's an example to illustrate today's Honest's Reporting critique of BBC bias concerning the Israel/Palestine conflict.
On my 'My Yahoo' page I get the headlines and a brief account of the various daily news from the main news media outlets like Reuters, AP, Sky, AFP, and of course the BBC.

One of the sections from BBC news is "BBC News | In Depth | Israel and the Palestinians | World Edition " It is not necessarily updated by the BBC with the most recent news items, but they are selective about which ones are included and how long they remain. Some stay 'relevant', at least as far as BBC's objective' for several weeks. As a rule of thumb, the more negative it can make Israel appear, the longer a particular headline will remain.

Look at today's:

BBC News | In Depth | Israel and the Palestinians | World Edition

• Bush urges Israeli occupation end - 4 hours ago
  President Bush says Israel must cede occupied Arab land so a viable Palestinian state can be created.
  
  
• Bush 'hopeful' for Mid-East peace - 19 hours ago
  US President George W Bush says he is hopeful a Middle East peace deal can be reached in the next year.
  
  
• Bush launches key Mid-East tour - 1 day ago
  US President Bush begins talks in Israel at the start of a landmark visit to the region to boost peace negotiations.
  
  
• Israel accused ahead of Bush trip - 3 days ago
  Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat blames Israel for stepping up attacks ahead of the US president's visit.
  
  
• Fayyad condemns Nablus raid - 6 days ago
  Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad criticises Israel for a large military incursion in the centre of Nablus in the West Bank.

[/li][/ul]

The fact is Bush also told the Palestinians they would have reign in the terrorist infrastructure and terrorists, but this doesn't appear in the BBC's headline. Also the BBC have quoted two Palestinian leaders in 2 separate articles criticizing Israel's incursion into Palestinian territory, but nothing about the spate of rocket attacks or murder of 2 hikers that led to this incursion.

Business as usual for the BBC

[Teddy Bear]

Not only headlines, but omitted current stories add to the distortion that the BBC would present as to what is going on in this part of the world. Tom Gross of the National Review makes this observation:

MIDDLE EAST COVERAGE

Nice Welcome... [Tom Gross]

President Bush, visiting the Palestinian territories today, made remarks strongly supportive of the Palestinian cause, to back up the hundreds of millions of dollars his administration has pledged for the Palestinian people.

Among the reaction so far:

20,000 Islamists in Gaza Protest Against “Vampire” Bush (By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Reuters)
Brandishing placards showing George W. Bush as a vampire swigging Muslim blood, some 20,000 Hamas supporters protested in Gaza on Wednesday against the U.S. president’s visit to Israel and the West Bank...

Palestinians Attack American School in Gaza (By Khaled Abu Toameh, Jerusalem Post)
Palestinians in Gaza on Thursday launched a rocket attack on the local American International School in protest against President Bush’s visit. Witnesses said large parts of the school were damaged by rockets, mortars and explosive devices. The attack came hours after several Palestinian groups called on Palestinians to kill Bush...

Palestinian Rocket Hits Sderot Home, Wounds Four (By Shmulik Hadad, Ynet News)
Palestinians in Gaza fired five Kassam rockets at Israel Wednesday afternoon, including one that hit a house in Sderot. Four people sustained injuries, including a 17-year-old girl who suffered shrapnel wounds and a boy who was hurt while attempting to take cover. One rocket crashed into an infant's bedroom...

None of this has been mentioned, even in passing, on the almost non-stop coverage of Bush’s trip to the Middle East I have been watching today on BBC, CNN International, and Sky News.
01/10 01:07 PM

[Teddy Bear]

It took them 2 days, and another attack on the American School in Gaza, for the BBC to finally report the story today. Most insidiously, they use the incident to present Hamas as some sort of moral and upright organisation, quoting a spokesman commenting on the incident saying: ]"Regardless of the reasons - whether to protest, or because of the visit of the American president, this is not a way to express oneself

Like Hamas have a clue on how to present themselves in a civilised manner, and what's worse, the BBC sucks up to it.

Gaza's American school attacked

Several rooms at the school were ransacked
Armed men have raided a privately-run American school in the north of the Gaza Strip, setting fire to buses and stealing computer equipment.
It was the second attack on the school, in Beit Lahiya, in the past two days. On Thursday a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the building.

Hamas, the group that controls the Gaza Strip, has condemned the attack.

Correspondents say it may have been linked to US President George W Bush's visit to the Middle East.

In another incident, in southern Gaza, a Hamas policeman has been found shot dead.

'Swamps of vice'

The school's director said the attack happened during the night, with armed men locking an unarmed caretaker into a room before going on the rampage. No-one was injured.

"Regardless of the reasons - whether to protest, or because of the visit of the American president, this is not a way to express oneself" Ihub Ghussein - Hamas spokesman

"This is terrorism against education," he said as he assessed the damage.

In a leaflet left after the attack, the gunmen claimed affiliation to al-Qaeda and vowed to attack similar targets.

"Polytheists and enemies of Islam are pursuing each day their work to destroy our youths, who are falling by the dozens into the swamps of vice and moral decadence," the statement said.

Hamas vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.

"Regardless of the reasons - whether to protest, or because of the visit of the American president, this is not a way to express oneself. This is a criminal act," said spokesman Ihab Ghussein, quoted by the Associated Press news agency.

The school is run by Palestinians and has no American teachers, but is part of an association of American schools in the Middle East and uses a US-style curriculum.

Two foreign teachers from the school were kidnapped in 2005, prompting international staff to leave.

[Teddy Bear]

Following the border incursion into Egypt by hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza, at least 38 Egyptian security personnel have been injured, some critically, in an effort to restore order.

So imagine if you were the editor of a media outlet constructing a headline to illustrate the situation, how would you word it?

Sky News chose: Egypt Gaza Border Clashes With Palestinians: 40 Injured -

AP chose: Egypt tries to control chaotic border

Reuters chose: Gazans stream over Egyptian border

Thus far, I would have said Sky had the most descriptive headline that went to the most serious aspect of this incident. From the others, you wouldn't know until you read the article what had happened. But what does the BBC put forward as their headline?
This: Egypt watches Gaza traffic go on



You could think it was some sort of traffic census. This is the best the BBC has to offer.