Latest news with #BasementFilms
The Independent
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
How a BBC documentary on doctors in Gaza spiralled into a bitter impartiality row
Proudly announcing the documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, Channel 4 's head of news and current affairs said the film was 'harrowing', and would 'make people angry'. In a lengthy statement, Louise Compton said the television channel had decided it was an important story to air. '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.' But this distressing film has become famous for all the wrong reasons before even a moment was broadcast. For it was not originally made for Channel 4, but rather the BBC. And it came close to not being seen on British TV at all after months of delays, acrimonious negotiations and concerns over partiality. The documentary, made by Basement Films, was commissioned and paid for by the BBC, whose programming directors initially agreed it was an important story, a person close to the film told The Independent. 'We have emails telling us that this is an important, powerful piece of journalism and needs to be told in the public interest. So then, mysteriously, suddenly, it can't be told,' they said. The source said at least six different transmission dates were given through January and February, but it kept getting pushed back. The documentary team thought the BBC was delaying while it waited for Ofcom's report from Peter Johnston on an earlier programme Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone, but said the BBC kept saying that was not the case. 'They kept coming up with just bulls***t reasons,' the source added, which included rechecking pictures and asking for additional fact checks. Later, the BBC apologised and said all films on Israel and Palestine would have to wait until after the Johnston report was released. Despite this, the Louis Theroux film on the West Bank was aired in May. Meanwhile, the documentary makers were anxious about getting the film out, firstly because it was a timely war crimes investigation, but also because they had a duty of care to the people who had helped them tell the story. 'One of the Israeli whistleblowers was really, really upset by this,' the source said. Eventually in April, the BBC decided they would not broadcast the film in documentary form and said it wanted to break up the interviews and use them in different ways. They would release the documentary back to the filmakers. But this process was not straightforward. What followed, the source said, was about six or seven weeks of intense negotiations involving lawyers about where and how the film could be aired. A major sticking point for the documentary team was a gag clause preventing them discussing the protracted negotiations with the BBC. Then, on 20 June, the BBC released a statement confirming they were not airing the film and went on to suggest there may be an issue of impartiality in the film. "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,' it said. "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." BBC News duly reported that sources said the decision came after separate public comments from Basement Films's Ben De Pear at the Sheffield Documentary Festival, and reporter and the film's co-executive producer Ramita Navai, who discussed Gaza in an interview on Radio 4's Today programme. In that interview, Navai said that Israel had "become a rogue state that's committing war crimes and ethnic cleansing and mass murdering Palestinians". De Pear had made reference to journalists being 'stymied and silenced'. The documentary film was dumbfounded. But with the film finally being dropped by the BBC, they team was free to place it elsewhere. Within a week, Channel 4 had moved in to pick it up. Compton, as head of Channel 4's news and current affairs, said the documentary 'offers powerful evidence that the doctors, nurses and paramedics of Gaza have been denied the non-combatant protection that the norms of warfare usually offer them'. She added that it was the job of journalists to the the stories people need to know, which sometimes, are stories some would prefer remained unheard. 'But while we would never judge anyone who decides that showing something could create a risk of being thought to be taking sides, we believe there are times when the same risk is run by not showing anything at all.' In a statement, Navai said the team had worked for over a year with human rights groups and healthcare workers who had 'forensically collected evidence of Israeli war crimes'. 'Our interviews with Palestinian doctors and healthcare workers who have been targeted by Israel, and with Israeli whistleblowers, show that Israel's targeting of healthcare workers is systematic and deliberate, and part of their effort to 'destroy' and 'flatten Gaza and to ethnically cleanse it, as Israeli ministers have themselves been saying. She continued: 'This film is important not only as a record of Israeli war crimes, but also because it has exposed the agenda of the BBC when it comes to reporting on Israel and Palestine - for these reasons, it's probably one of the most important documentaries I've ever made.'
Forbes
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Mehdi Hasan's Zeteo Picks Up Gaza Documentary The BBC Refused To Air
Surgeons operate on a patient at the European Hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip amid ... More the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (Photo by SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images) A high-profile documentary about Palestinian doctors working amid wartime conditions in Gaza — which the BBC decided not to broadcast — is now getting a global release, thanks to its acquisition by journalist Mehdi Hasan's media startup Zeteo. The film, Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, was produced by Basement Films and features on-the-ground testimony from healthcare workers trying to save lives amid the destruction of Gaza's hospital system. Zeteo is releasing the documentary globally today, following months of delays and ultimately a final decision by the BBC to pull out of the project entirely. Why Mehdi Hasan's Zeteo backed a Gaza documentary Zeteo, which Hasan launched in 2024 to give voice to underreported stories and independent journalism, framed the acquisition as a stand for editorial independence. 'This is one of the reasons I founded Zeteo … to platform the journalistic voices that are being censored on the biggest issues of our time,' Hasan said in a statement about the documentary. The BBC's reversal, it should be noted, came after what the broadcaster said was a review of a separate Gaza-related documentary. Ultimately, the BBC said airing Gaza: Doctors Under Attack would risk 'creating a perception of partiality.' Basement Films noted that the BBC had initially told them the film passed editorial review — a claim the network disputes. After the BBC ultimately passed on the documentary, however, more than 600 members of the film industry (including actress Susan Sarandon and director Mike Leigh) decided to speak out via an open letter. The BBC, that letter argued, was silencing Palestinian voices. Few modern conflicts have certainly sparked as much global outrage, division, and scrutiny as the war in Gaza — not just because of the war's scale, but for the staggering human toll on civilians. It began with the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, leading to a wide-ranging Israeli military campaign inside Gaza — one which has already claimed thousands of lives and left destruction throughout the region. The crisis has also raised serious concerns over safeguarding civilians, especially medics and aid workers on the front line. Hospitals have fared terribly, with many being destroyed or destroyed. Physicians and nurses are operating with acute power, supply, and protection shortages in order to care for patients. Basement Films has stated that more than 200 of their Palestinian colleagues and partners have died in Gaza since the conflict began. Hasan, a former MSNBC host, launched Zeteo as a subscriber-supported media platform after leaving the network following its cancellation of his weekend show there amid a programming reshuffle. For Zeteo's paid subscribers, the Gaza documentary will be available to stream starting today (July 2) at 5 p.m. ET. In the UK, it will be shown on Channel 4. 'We owe everything to our Palestinian colleagues on the ground … and the doctors and medics who trusted us with their stories,' Basement Films' statement continues, by way of thanking Zeteo and Channel 4 for enabling the film to be seen.
The Guardian
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Caution has turned to cowardice – the BBC is failing viewers with its Gaza coverage
Tonight, audiences can finally watch Gaza: Doctors Under Attack on Channel 4 and Zeteo. This timely film was originally produced for the BBC by award-winning production company Basement Films. The BBC has been delaying it since February, arguing it couldn't go out before a review into an entirely different film, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, had culminated. That was a poor editorial decision with no precedent. But poorer still: after months of leaving the film in limbo, last week the BBC announced it wouldn't air it – leaving it for Channel 4 to pick up. Why? The BBC said it might create 'the perception of partiality'. You'd be forgiven for thinking this was lifted from a dystopian novel. Perception, after all, has nothing to do with impartiality – at least in an ideal world. The BBC seems to have said the quiet part out loud. Impartiality, as far as it's concerned, is about PR, optics and managing the anger of certain groups, rather than following the evidence and championing robust journalism – no matter who's angered, no matter how it looks. More than 100 BBC journalists have now anonymously signed a letter, calling the choice not to broadcast Gaza: Doctors Under Attack a 'political decision' that doesn't reflect the quality of journalism in the film. The BBC, they say, is 'an organisation crippled by the fear of being perceived as critical of the Israeli government'. The letter says the decision not to air this film came straight from the top, and many BBC staff – junior and senior – are unhappy with it. They feel it doesn't reflect the organisation's values, and that there was no acceptable editorial justification for delaying and then canning it. Some have been brave enough to voice this internally, but their concerns haven't been heard. It's no surprise to me that the BBC isn't listening to its own journalists over this film. It's also no surprise to me that more than 100 BBC journalists felt they needed anonymity to criticise the board's decision. Because this isn't the first anonymous letter. Twenty months ago, while I was working as a journalist in a BBC newsroom, covering Gaza day in and day out, I realised that my news organisation wasn't accurately telling this story. But I didn't feel I could openly criticise editorial policy without being taken off the story or coded as biased, and I wasn't alone. In November 2023, I wrote the first letter out of the BBC, expressing concerns about the Gaza coverage. It was signed by just seven other BBC journalists, and reported on by Al Jazeera. By the time I wrote my last letter, published in the Independent a year later, more than 100 BBC journalists had signed anonymously, alongside hundreds of industry professionals and respected media lecturers. This was around the time I left the organisation, unable to continue in good conscience. Dissent was clearly growing. But people were still afraid to speak openly. Last week in parliament, the BBC's director of news, Richard Burgess, claimed the organisation listens to its journalists. But my letters weren't heard, and nor were my efforts to raise the alarm internally. In the year from October 2023, I organised staff, attended multiple 'listening sessions' with executives, helped put together dossiers of poor coverage, wrote to executives and relevant teams, and did my best to cover Gaza while hamstrung by obstructive editorial policy and an unwillingness to cover the story. I was a BBC-trained journalist horrified at the contradiction between the ideals of our public broadcaster – accuracy, transparency, public trust – and its actions. Editorial caution had become editorial cowardice. Decisions were being shaped by fear – of complaint campaigns and lobby groups, of being told off by higher-ups. This had left us with coverage that was overall inaccurate, failing to communicate the disproportionality, scale, gravity and illegality of Israel's actions in Gaza – actions now deemed a genocide by various experts and humanitarian organisations. Inaccuracy is more than telling an overt lie. Inaccuracy comes in many forms: omitting key stories, omitting key context, speaking to one group far more than another. Good journalism is about following the evidence. And if the BBC's approach has been shaped by evidence, why did it speak to more than double the number of Israelis, compared with Palestinians, in the year after 7 October 2023? Why did it omit key legal context – such as the January 2024 international court of justice ruling – from its coverage? These choices skew reality. Both are findings from a recent damning Centre for Media Monitoring report on the BBC's Gaza coverage, with data-backed insights into how it has failed to tell the full story. And it hasn't learned its lesson. Perhaps if the BBC had listened to these journalists over the past year and a half, Gaza: Doctors Under Attack would have aired in February when it was ready, instead of becoming another gaping omission in BBC coverage. BBC impartiality is dead. The fiction that our public broadcaster can stay perfectly neutral, without being influenced, is fracturing around us. Every so-called 'controversial' story has exposed a new fault line, showing how unwilling the BBC is to wade through influence and disinformation to get to the truth – in certain cases. Gaza, climate breakdown, migration: these are stories where public opinion has been polarised, powerful lobby groups are at play, or where the government or major corporations have come down on one side. This is where the BBC is most needed but fails most catastrophically. Those at the top of the BBC now have a choice. They can once again ignore the alarm raised by their own journalists, and continue to chip away at the trust of audiences and staff. Or they can finally – after 20 months – listen. Karishma Patel is a former BBC journalist and newsreader turned media critic Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
The Guardian
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Caution has turned to cowardice – the BBC is failing viewers with its Gaza coverage
Tonight, audiences can finally watch Gaza: Doctors Under Attack on Channel 4 and Zeteo. This timely film was originally produced for the BBC by award-winning production company Basement Films. The BBC has been delaying it since February, arguing it couldn't go out before a review into an entirely different film, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, had culminated. That was a poor editorial decision with no precedent. But poorer still: after months of leaving the film in limbo, last week the BBC announced it wouldn't air it – leaving it for Channel 4 to pick up. Why? The BBC said it might create 'the perception of partiality'. You'd be forgiven for thinking this was lifted from a dystopian novel. Perception, after all, has nothing to do with impartiality – at least in an ideal world. The BBC seems to have said the quiet part out loud. Impartiality, as far as it's concerned, is about PR, optics and managing the anger of certain groups, rather than following the evidence and championing robust journalism – no matter who's angered, no matter how it looks. More than 100 BBC journalists have now anonymously signed a letter, calling the choice not to broadcast Gaza: Doctors Under Attack a 'political decision' that doesn't reflect the quality of journalism in the film. The BBC, they say, is 'an organisation crippled by the fear of being perceived as critical of the Israeli government'. The letter says the decision not to air this film came straight from the top, and many BBC staff – junior and senior – are unhappy with it. They feel it doesn't reflect the organisation's values, and that there was no acceptable editorial justification for delaying and then canning it. Some have been brave enough to voice this internally, but their concerns haven't been heard. It's no surprise to me that the BBC isn't listening to its own journalists over this film. It's also no surprise to me that more than 100 BBC journalists felt they needed anonymity to criticise the board's decision. Because this isn't the first anonymous letter. Twenty months ago, while I was working as a journalist in a BBC newsroom, covering Gaza day in and day out, I realised that my news organisation wasn't accurately telling this story. But I didn't feel I could openly criticise editorial policy without being taken off the story or coded as biased, and I wasn't alone. In November 2023, I wrote the first letter out of the BBC, expressing concerns about the Gaza coverage. It was signed by just seven other BBC journalists, and reported on by Al Jazeera. By the time I wrote my last letter, published in the Independent a year later, more than 100 BBC journalists had signed anonymously, alongside hundreds of industry professionals and respected media lecturers. This was around the time I left the organisation, unable to continue in good conscience. Dissent was clearly growing. But people were still afraid to speak openly. Last week in parliament, the BBC's director of news, Richard Burgess, claimed the organisation listens to its journalists. But my letters weren't heard, and nor were my efforts to raise the alarm internally. In the year from October 2023, I organised staff, attended multiple 'listening sessions' with executives, helped put together dossiers of poor coverage, wrote to executives and relevant teams, and did my best to cover Gaza while hamstrung by obstructive editorial policy and an unwillingness to cover the story. I was a BBC-trained journalist horrified at the contradiction between the ideals of our public broadcaster – accuracy, transparency, public trust – and its actions. Editorial caution had become editorial cowardice. Decisions were being shaped by fear – of complaint campaigns and lobby groups, of being told off by higher-ups. This had left us with coverage that was overall inaccurate, failing to communicate the disproportionality, scale, gravity and illegality of Israel's actions in Gaza – actions now deemed a genocide by various experts and humanitarian organisations. Inaccuracy is more than telling an overt lie. Inaccuracy comes in many forms: omitting key stories, omitting key context, speaking to one group far more than another. Good journalism is about following the evidence. And if the BBC's approach has been shaped by evidence, why did it speak to more than double the number of Israelis, compared with Palestinians, in the year after 7 October 2023? Why did it omit key legal context – such as the January 2024 international court of justice ruling – from its coverage? These choices skew reality. Both are findings from a recent damning Centre for Media Monitoring report on the BBC's Gaza coverage, with data-backed insights into how it has failed to tell the full story. And it hasn't learned its lesson. Perhaps if the BBC had listened to these journalists over the past year and a half, Gaza: Doctors Under Attack would have aired in February when it was ready, instead of becoming another gaping omission in BBC coverage. BBC impartiality is dead. The fiction that our public broadcaster can stay perfectly neutral, without being influenced, is fracturing around us. Every so-called 'controversial' story has exposed a new fault line, showing how unwilling the BBC is to wade through influence and disinformation to get to the truth – in certain cases. Gaza, climate breakdown, migration: these are stories where public opinion has been polarised, powerful lobby groups are at play, or where the government or major corporations have come down on one side. This is where the BBC is most needed but fails most catastrophically. Those at the top of the BBC now have a choice. They can once again ignore the alarm raised by their own journalists, and continue to chip away at the trust of audiences and staff. Or they can finally – after 20 months – listen. Karishma Patel is a former BBC journalist and newsreader turned media critic
Scotsman
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Gaza: Doctors Under Attack: how to watch on Channel 4?
Gaza: Doctors Under Attack is set to be broadcast on Channel 4 📺 Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Gaza: Doctors Under Attack was originally commissioned by BBC. The broadcaster dropped it earlier this year. Channel 4 has now picked it up and is set to air it tonight (July 2). A documentary that was dropped by the BBC before it was broadcast is finally set to be shown on TV - after it was picked up by Channel 4. Gaza: Doctors Under Attack is described as a forensic investigation into Israeli military attacks on hospitals in Gaza. Originally commissioned by the Beeb, it was announced in June that the broadcaster would not be airing it after all. In a statement the BBC said that it risked 'creating a perception of partiality'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Channel 4 has now picked up the one-off documentary film and will be broadcasting it tonight (July 2). Here's all you need to know: What is Gaza: Doctors Under Attack about? A general view shows the damage in the area surrounding Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital in 2024 | AFP via Getty Images In the documentary, Ramita Navai investigates allegations of the targeting and abuse of doctors and healthcare workers in Gaza. Channel 4's preview adds: '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.' The broadcaster adds that it has been fact-checked and complied to ensure it meets Channel 4 editorial standards and the Ofcom Broadcasting Code. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Louisa Compton, Channel 4 Head of News and Current Affairs and Specialist Factual and Sport, said: 'This is a meticulously reported and important film examining evidence which supports allegations of grave breaches of international law by Israeli forces that deserves to be widely seen and exemplifies Channel 4's commitment to brave and fearless journalism.' 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.' What time is Gaza: Doctors Under Attack on? The documentary is set to be aired by Channel 4 tonight in the UK. It is due to start at 10pm and will run for just over an hour, finishing at approximately 11.05pm. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Gaza: Doctors Under Attack will be broadcast on TV and will also be available on demand. It will be available to watch on the Channel 4 app - the platform formerly known as All4/ 4OD.
