EXCLUSIVE BBC staff are in 'open revolt' after Channel 4 said it would screen axed Gaza doctors documentary, insiders say - claiming Beeb bosses who refused to screen film are 'out of touch with reality'

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

BBC staff are in 'open revolt' about top bosses meddling with the channel's journalism 'for political reasons', MailOnline can reveal.
Yesterday, it emerged that Channel 4 will show a documentary about Gaza commissioned and then scrapped by the BBC.
Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, which was made by two Emmy award-winning filmmakers, was originally commissioned by the BBC more than a year ago.
However, the corporation paused its production in April following the launch of an investigation into another documentary Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone, which starred the son of a leader of Hamas - a fact that film failed to mention.
Now, Channel 4 has announced it will instead be broadcasting Gaza: Doctors Under Attack on Wednesday, July 2, at 10pm.
But BBC staff are said to be in uproar over the decision not to show the programme on its channels, which is thought to have been made by director general Tim Davie.
More than 300 people have allegedly signed an open letter directed at the corporation's bosses, which raises concerns about 'censorship' at the BBC when it comes to reporting about Israel.
The letter also branded the decision not to show the documentary about medics in Gaza as 'political' and 'nothing to do with the journalism of the film'.
An insider with knowledge of the situation told MailOnline: 'The people at commissioner level who are experienced journalists and take these decisions on an almost daily basis are being overruled by people who are pretending to be journalists. There's open revolt [at the BBC].
'[Bosses] approved the film multiple times and then delayed it at least five times but confirmed in emails that it would go out and that the delays were not due to the Johnstone report into Gaza: How to survive in a war zone.
'They said this [new documentary] was a vital film that exemplified ''public interest journalism'.
'After these multiple delays over six weeks they then apologised and said, ''Sorry, it is because of the Johnstone report''.'
Gaza: Doctors Under Attack is a one off-documentary that examines allegations that Israeli forces have repeatedly targeted hospitals in breach of international law.
The programme was made by two-time Emmy-winning journalist Ramita Navai, fellow two-time Emmy-winning director Karim Shah and ex-Channel 4 News Editor Ben De Pear, who is the executive producer of Basement Films, which was commissioned by the BBC to create the film.
The source said more than 40 people from BBC Eye, who were involved in the documentary, had signed a letter of protest against the corporation's.
They said the open letter had more than 300 signatures.
The insider continued: 'We had to handle the duty of care for a dozen doctors and medics we had spoken to who couldn't understand why their interviews - in which they talked about the deaths of their children when their homes were bombed, or colleagues when their hospitals were attacked, had not gone out.
'We made this point repeatedly and at length to the BBC but they ignored these concerns.'
Channel 4 said it had fact-checked the documentary, Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, to ensure that it meets its editorial standards and the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.
The film reports that every one of Gaza's 36 main hospitals has now been attacked or destroyed by Israel, with people forced to evacuate and healthcare workers reportedly killed, imprisoned and tortured.
Louisa Compton, Channel 4's head of news and current affairs and specialist factual and sport, said: 'We are showing this programme because we believe that, following thorough fact-checking and verification, we are presenting a duly impartial view of a subject that both divides opinion and frequently provokes dispute about what constitutes a fact.
'Channel 4 has a strong tradition of putting uncomfortable reporting in front of our audiences.
'In doing so, we know we will antagonise somebody somewhere sometime. But we do it because we believe it is our duty to tell important journalistic stories – especially those that aren't being told elsewhere.'
Basement Films added: 'This is the third film we have made about the assault on Gaza since October 7th at Basement Films, and whilst none of them have been easy this became by far the most difficult.
'As ever we owe everything to our Palestinian colleagues on the ground; over 200 of whom have been killed by Israel, and the doctors and medics who trusted us with their stories.
'We want to apologise to the contributors and team for the long delay, and thank Channel 4 for enabling it to be seen.'
The BBC announced that it would not be broadcasting Gaza: Doctors Under Attack on June 20.
'We wanted the doctors' voices to be heard,' the broadcaster said in a statement.
'Our aim was to find a way to air some of the material in our news programmes, in line with our impartiality standards, before the review was published.
'For some weeks, the BBC has been working with Basement Films to find a way to tell the stories of these doctors on our platforms.'
But, the corporation added: 'Yesterday it became apparent that we have reached the end of the road with these discussions.
'We have come to the conclusion that broadcasting this material risked creating a perception of partiality that would not meet the high standards that the public rightly expect of the BBC.
'Impartiality is a core principle of BBC News. It is one of the reasons that we are the world's most trusted broadcaster.
'Therefore, we are transferring ownership of the film material to Basement Films.'
Previously, critics were enraged by the BBC's failure to disclose that the narrator of Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone was the son of a senior member of the Hamas terrorist group.
It was originally broadcast on February 17 on BBC Two with the aim of showing a 'vivid and unflinching view of life' in the strip.
The documentary was made by two producers based in London who remotely directed two cameramen on the ground over nine months.
However, independent investigative journalist David Collier claimed one of the child narrators, Abdullah, was the son of a Hamas government minister and grandson of one of Hamas's founding members.
Using Facebook and publicly available data online, Mr Collier claimed the show's young star is the son of Gaza's deputy minister of agriculture Dr Ayman Al-Yazouri.
This would mean his grandfather would be the Hamas founder Ibrahim al-Yazouri, who has previously been jailed by Egypt and Israel for involvement in proscribed groups.
The BBC apologised for the inclusion of the documentary's young star, with a spokesperson for the corporation saying: 'Since the transmission of our documentary on Gaza, the BBC has become aware of the family connections of the film's narrator, a child called Abdullah.
'We've promised our audiences the highest standards of transparency, so it is only right that as a result of this new information, we add some more detail to the film before its retransmission. We apologise for the omission of that detail from the original film.'
MailOnline has approached the BBC for comment.
The open letter to the BBC in full
An open letter to BBC Management, written by BBC Journalists and signed by media industry professionals
We're writing to express our concerns over opaque editorial decisions and censorship at the BBC on the reporting of Israel/Palestine. We believe the refusal to broadcast the documentary 'Gaza: Medics Under Fire' is just one in a long line of agenda driven decisions.
It demonstrates, once again, that the BBC is not reporting 'without fear or favour' when it comes to Israel.
We understand that a decision not to broadcast the investigation has been taken by senior BBC management despite the film's content being signed off in accordance with BBC guidelines and editorial policy.
This appears to be a political decision and is not reflective of the journalism in the film. A recent statement from the BBC said broadcasting the film 'risked creating the perception of partiality'.
This illustrates precisely what many of us have experienced first hand: an organisation that is crippled by the fear of being perceived as critical of the Israeli government.
We are not asking the BBC to take a side. We are asking to be allowed to do our jobs in delivering facts transparently and with due context.
For many of us, our efforts have been frustrated by opaque decisions made at senior levels of the BBC without discussion or explanation.
Our failures impact audiences. As an organisation we have not offered any significant analysis of the UK government's involvement in the war on Palestinians.
We have failed to report on weapons sales or their legal implications. These stories have instead been broken by the BBC's competitors.
This hasn't happened by accident, rather by design. Much of the BBC's coverage in this area is defined by anti-Palestinian racism.
The inconsistent manner in which guidance is applied draws into focus the role of Sir Robbie Gibb, on the BBC Board and BBC's Editorial Standards Committee.
We are concerned that an individual with close ties to the Jewish Chronicle, an outlet that has repeatedly published anti-Palestinian and often racist content, has a say in the BBC's editorial decisions in any capacity, including the decision not to broadcast 'Gaza: Medics Under Fire'.
This conflict of interest highlights a double standard for BBC content makers who have themselves experienced censorship in the name of 'impartiality'.
In some instances staff have been accused of having an agenda because they have posted news articles critical of the Israeli government on their social media.
By comparison, Gibb remains in an influential post with little transparency regarding his decisions despite his ideological leanings being well known. We can no longer ask license fee payers to overlook Gibbs' ideological allegiances.
Since October 2023 it has become increasingly clear to our audiences that the BBC's reporting on Israel / Palestine falls short of our own editorial standards.
There is a gulf between the BBC's coverage of what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank and what our audiences can see is happening via multiple credible sources including human rights organisations, staff at the UN and journalists on the ground.
Whilst there has been some exceptional content from some areas of the BBC (within documentary and from some individual correspondents for example), news in particular has failed to report the reality and the context of the war on Palestinians.
All too often it has felt that the BBC has been performing PR for the Israeli government and military. This should be a cause of great shame and concern for everyone at the BBC.
Despite these failings, there has been a major shift within public discourse in recent months.
Increasingly the scale of Israel's crimes against the Palestinians are being understood by the public as well as many of our parliamentarians.
The BBC's editorial decisions seem increasingly out of step with reality. We have been forced to conclude that decisions are made to fit a political agenda rather than serve the needs of audiences.
As industry insiders and as BBC staff, we have experienced this first hand. The issue has become even more urgent with recent escalations in the region. Again, BBC coverage has appeared to downplay Israel's role, reinforcing an 'Israel first' framing that compromises our credibility.
We, the undersigned BBC staff, freelancers and industry figures are extremely concerned that the BBC's reporting on Israel and Palestine continues to fall short of the standards our audiences expect.
We believe the role of Robbie Gibb, both on the Board, and as part of the Editorial Standards Committee, is untenable.
We call on the BBC to do better for our audiences and recommit to our values of impartiality, honesty and reporting without fear or favour.