BBC faces new questions over board member Robbie Gibb's Gaza coverage influence

Middle East Eye

a day ago

The BBC is facing new questions over the role pro-Israel board member Robbie Gibb may have played in the broadcaster's Gaza coverage, with a report in Prospect Magazine alleging he may have held discussions with the BBC's director general and chairman about the network's reporting.
Alan Rusbridger, the editor of Prospect Magazine and a former editor at the Guardian, wrote on Wednesday that the BBC had told him Gibb had not recused himself from any discussions "about the BBC's coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict".
Rusbridger wrote that he further asked the BBC whether Gibb had any conversations about the Gaza: Doctors Under Attack documentary, and received a "somewhat cryptic response".
A BBC spokesperson reportedly said that "[Gibb] had no formal role in any of the discussions or decisions about whether the BBC should run the film - I'm afraid I have no way of knowing whether BBC board members have had discussions about various live issues affecting the BBC but as I've said before, the decisions about the film were taken by BBC News."
Rusbridger concluded that it was "reasonable to assume, I think, that Gibb may have had informal discussions."
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Middle East Eye reached out to the BBC for comment on Rusbridger's claims but did not receive a response by time of publication.
Earlier this week, more than 400 cultural figures signed a letter calling on Gibb to resign from the board over fears he is harming the broadcaster's credibility.
A range of filmmakers, actors and journalists - including Miriam Margolyes, Alexei Sayle, Juliet Stevenson, Mike Leigh and William Dalrymple - signed the letter, which raised "concerns over opaque editorial decisions and censorship at the BBC on the reporting of Israel/Palestine".
Gibb's role 'untenable'
Gibb was part of a consortium that bought out the Jewish Chronicle outlet in 2020 and still declares on the BBC website that he has a 100 percent holding of the outlet.
'[The] inconsistent manner in which guidance is applied draws into focus the role of Gibb, on the BBC Board and BBC's editorial standards committee," said the letter this week, which was signed by 111 BBC journalists.
They also referenced the BBC's decision not to air Gaza: Doctors Under Attack over alleged concerns about its impartiality.
Media figures demand resignation of pro-Israel BBC board member Robbie Gibb Read More »
"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," reads the letter.
"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."
The BBC has faced criticism from pro-Palestinian campaigners over its coverage of the war in Gaza since October 2023. They say they it has unfairly and disproportionately featured Israeli perspectives on the network.
A report released by the Centre For Media Monitoring last month said that the BBC gave Israeli deaths 33 times more coverage per fatality and ran almost equal numbers of humanising victim profiles, despite 34 times more Palestinian deaths.
Last year Rusbridger, who has previously investigated the Jewish Chronicle's ownership, called into question Gibb's position on the BBC's editorial standards committee.
'I can't see how he can possibly sit on that committee and portray himself as a beacon of impartiality, sitting in judgement on BBC journalists,' Rusbridger told LBC Radio.