The Food Programme, Radio 4, 26 November 2023

Complaint

The programme was devoted to the food situation in Gaza.聽 A listener complained that, by focusing on this without similar attention to food supply problems in Israel, the programme manifested anti-Israeli bias, and that the account of the history of Gaza in relation to Israel given in the programme by Jeremy Bowen was characterised by errors and omissions. 聽The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the 大象传媒鈥檚 editorial standards of impartiality and accuracy.


Outcome

While recognising that the current conflict had not been without repercussions on food supply in Israel, the ECU considered that the extremity of the situation in Gaza put it on a different footing, and that it was not a breach of impartiality to focus on it to the exclusion of the situation in Israel.聽 As to accuracy, Mr Bowen鈥檚 account focused on the aspects of the historical situation most relevant to the topic in hand.聽 While this resulted in the omission of some information which the complainant considered important, the result did not appear to the ECU to be either erroneous or misleading to listeners.

Not Upheld