Haaretz reports on a gathering in a Jerusalem synogogue with the BBC Mideast bureau chief:
Standing in the basement of a Jerusalem synagogue this week, the bureau chief of the BBC’s Middle East desk acknowledged that he was entering a lion’s den…
Pointing to the network’s appointment last year of Malcolm Balen as an editorial adviser who would ostensibly monitor journalists’ objectivity in the region, Steele insisted that the BBC was actively working to achieve balanced standards of reporting.
Audience members, most of whom remained highly critical, attacked the BBC for its reluctance to use the word “terrorist” in reporting on Palestinian attacks. They also accused Steele of an anti-Israel bias for his network’s use of the term “occupied territories.”
“The BBC is enormous [and] we try our hardest,” Steele replied. “I’ve never been anywhere where so much care is put into the words we use and the balance we seek.”
BBC journalists, he added over a collective groan from the audience, are united by a “love of truth.”
