Post by Teddy Bear on Feb 13, 2009 23:03:24 GMT
The International Branch of Honest Reporting has brought out its 2008 Dishonest Reporting Awards. For the UK, the Guardian, Independant, Economist, and Channel 4 each get a mention for various outlandish reportage, and not surprisingly, our very own BBC.
Biggest Range of Problems: BBC
Readers vented a shockingly wide array of problems.
Some complaints focused on coverage glorifying George Habash, a video equating Rafik Hariri and Imad Mughniyeh as "great national leaders" (the Beeb apologized), a revisionist look at Israel's 60th birthday, a so-called eyewitness report that instead raised eyebrows, the Jerusalem bulldozer rampage (another apology), even an entertainment piece about Paul McCartney which somehow squeezed this sentence in:
Other readers, however, touched on deeper flaws: rehashing old news, Trevor Asserson's special report (pdf format) detailing problems with BBC Arabic, the Beeb's continuing cover-up of the Balen report, habitually choosing fringe Jews to "represent Israel," a BBC charity giving money to an organization that funded propaganda for the 7/7 bombers (Hanif Malik just filed a libel suit), and last -- but not least -- an utterly incomprehensible complaints system. Enough said.
Readers vented a shockingly wide array of problems.
Some complaints focused on coverage glorifying George Habash, a video equating Rafik Hariri and Imad Mughniyeh as "great national leaders" (the Beeb apologized), a revisionist look at Israel's 60th birthday, a so-called eyewitness report that instead raised eyebrows, the Jerusalem bulldozer rampage (another apology), even an entertainment piece about Paul McCartney which somehow squeezed this sentence in:
Israel says the barrier, the route of which was declared illegal by the international court in the Hague in 2004, is for its security, but the Palestinians say it is a device to grab land.
Other readers, however, touched on deeper flaws: rehashing old news, Trevor Asserson's special report (pdf format) detailing problems with BBC Arabic, the Beeb's continuing cover-up of the Balen report, habitually choosing fringe Jews to "represent Israel," a BBC charity giving money to an organization that funded propaganda for the 7/7 bombers (Hanif Malik just filed a libel suit), and last -- but not least -- an utterly incomprehensible complaints system. Enough said.