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🧵⚙️💪🏻 TEZGÂH 🧵⚙️💪🏻

The BBC Says It’s “Impartial.” But Its Own Staff Say Otherwise

Prompt: Each sentence of the letter is actually a British understatement joke! Translate each of them to the original intended message, reversing the understatement! / extend the translation parts by revealing more concealed messages, with rage and swearing

Original:
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.

Translation (no more British politeness):
We are fucking furious. The BBC keeps hiding behind their so-called “editorial standards” to flat-out censor anything that might make Israel look bad. Pulling ‘Gaza: Medics Under Fire’ is just the latest in a never-ending shit parade of decisions made to protect Israel and silence the truth. “Without fear or favour”? Get lost. The BBC is absolutely terrified of upsetting Israel or anyone who supports it, and everyone can see it.

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Original:
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.

Translation:
Let’s stop pretending: BBC management threw this film in the fucking bin, ignoring all their own rules, just because they’re petrified of backlash from the Israel lobby and government ministers. This “perception of partiality” excuse is absolute bullshit—a weak cover for gutless leadership that doesn’t dare show the public what’s really happening in Gaza. The BBC is so terrified of being accused of anti-Israel bias that they’d rather gaslight everyone and bury the truth.

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Original:
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.

Translation:
We’re sick to death of being gagged. We’re not even allowed to report the fucking facts. Our editors won’t even let us mention the UK’s bloody fingerprints all over this war—their arms sales, the legal mess—none of it. We’re muzzled by cowardly managers too afraid of the government and pro-Israel blowhards. So, instead of journalism, the BBC feeds the public watered-down drivel, and lets other newsrooms do our fucking jobs for us.

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Original:
This didn’t happen 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’.

Translation:
None of this is a fucking accident—it’s deliberate. The BBC is totally infested with anti-Palestinian racism, and people like Robbie Gibb are at the center of it. He’s in bed with the Jewish Chronicle, which has pushed some downright racist garbage, and yet he’s calling the shots at the BBC, killing stories that don’t fit his pro-Israel agenda. What the actual fuck is he doing anywhere near our editorial decisions? It’s a complete joke.

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Original:
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.

Translation:
It’s a sick fucking double standard: If you’re a regular journalist, post anything even mildly critical of Israel and you get dragged over the coals, censored, or worse. Meanwhile, Gibb—whose pro-Israel bias is screamingly obvious—stays on top, doing whatever the hell he wants, with zero accountability. And the public? They have no clue who’s pulling the strings. We’re done pretending it’s okay. It’s a rigged system.

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Original:
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.

Translation:
Since October, it’s obvious to everyone except the BBC bosses that our coverage is an absolute fucking embarrassment. You can see what’s actually happening in Gaza everywhere except on BBC News. Most of our news coverage is just Israeli PR spin, not journalism. The public sees through it, and our reputation is in the gutter. If anyone here actually gave a shit about truth or integrity, they’d be horrified.

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Original:
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.

Translation:
Everyone knows the score now. The truth about Israel’s crimes is getting out despite the BBC’s best efforts to suppress it. We’re not journalists anymore—we’re puppets forced to follow a political script. We see the lies from the inside, day after day. And when the violence explodes again, the BBC still acts as Israel’s mouthpiece, further wrecking any shred of credibility we have left.

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Original:
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.

Translation:
We are fucking livid. The BBC has pissed away its integrity and betrayed everything journalism is supposed to stand for. As long as Gibb is anywhere near editorial decisions, nothing’s going to change. Fire him. Clean house. And stop bullshitting the public about “impartiality.” Grow a spine, do some real reporting, and stop acting like state-controlled stooges.