The BBC has admitted that the horrific murders of the Fogel family last month should have been covered on their 24 hour news channel.I believe this is in error. I heard one unverified report of celebrations in the West Bank and one verified report of a single person handing out pastries in Gaza. Also, Hamas never praised the attack, although Islamic Jihad did.
The massacre, in which a three-month-old baby was decapitated and her siblings' throats were slashed, did not appear anywhere across the BBC's television channels, and was mentioned only briefly on the broadcaster's news website.
The BBC gave no mention of Hamas' statement praising the attack, or of celebrations about the killings in the West Bank, yet did cover the Israeli government's announcement about settlement construction the following day.
The broadcaster's poor coverage was highlighted by Louise Bagshawe, Conservative MP for Corby, who registered her disgust at what she called the BBC's "inexcusable" failure, in the JC as well as on Twitter and in a comment piece for the Daily Telegraph.A drop in the ocean, but at least it is a drop.
Ms Bagshawe, a member of the Select Committee for Culture, Media and Sport, called on the BBC to admit their "lack of evenhandedness". She also demanded a list of the other stories which were featured on BBC News 24 on March 11, in preference. Her complaint was passed to the BBC's director of news, Helen Boaden, but it was five days before Ms Boaden replied. During that time Ms Bagshawe received thousands of messages of support.
In her response Ms Boaden said: "I agree with you that the significant nature of this murder of an entire family meant it should have been included on our television news output."
(h/t O)