The Times report is "polite"...

"A national appeal from the DEC would normally raise about £10 million"

A nationwide appeal for money to help the Gaza relief effort has been denied free television airtime because the BBC fears that it would damage confidence in the corporation’s impartiality.

A 46-year-old agreement with overseas aid charities guarantees them a two-minute prime-time slot to broadcast appeals. But the BBC said that the risk of compromising confidence in its fairness, coupled with “question marks” about aid getting through, had led to its decision not to go ahead with this one.

The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) announced its national appeal for Gaza yesterday, saying that the devastation after Israel’s three-week offensive was so great that the leading aid charities felt “compelled to act”. The committee, which is made up of the 12 biggest aid charities, including the British Red Cross and Save the Children, co-ordinates fundraising during international emergencies to maximise the impact of their efforts.

The big advantage of a DEC appeal is the free airtime given to it by the major broadcasters. The agreement dates back to 1963, when big aid charities first came together for a joint appeal, and has the approval of broadcasting regulators. Under its terms the main broadcasters get together and agree what footage to use, and often provide the spokesman for the appeal. The script is agreed and then signed off by the DEC.

By convention, if all broadcasters do not agree to carry the appeal, none does. A national appeal from the DEC would normally raise about £10 million, but without the broadcasts the total is certain to be lower.

The BBC is highly sensitive about its coverage of the Middle East, which Israel has alleged to have shown pro-Palestinian bias. The corporation has even held an inquiry into its own coverage.

Last night the BBC denied it was to blame for preventing the appeal broadcasts going ahead. Sources at the corporation insisted that it was not the only broadcaster that did not want to screen it, suggesting that BSkyB — in which News Corporation, parent company of The Times, has a 39.1 per cent stake — was also against it and that ITV was “on the fence”.

The BBC statement said: “Along with other broadcasters, the BBC has decided not to broadcast the DEC’s public appeal to raise funds for Gaza. The BBC decision was made because of question marks about the delivery of aid in a volatile situation and also to avoid any risk of compromising public confidence in the BBC’s impartiality in the context of an ongoing news story. However, the BBC will, of course, continue to report the humanitarian story in Gaza.”

Sky immediately denied that it had also had reservations. “We were considering this request internally when the DEC contacted us to let us know that the BBC had decided not to broadcast the appeal at this time. As, by convention, if all broadcasters do not carry the appeal then none do, the decision was effectively made for us,” a spokesman said.

Brendan Gormley, chief executive of the DEC, told The Times that he was saddened that the appeal would not be broadcast as it meant thousands of potential donors would not be reached. “We deeply regret this decision if it means our message doesn’t reach those who may want to give to a DEC appeal.

“We will soldier on but we recognise it will be much more of a struggle now to reach donors,” he said.

He questioned the BBC’s suggestion that it might not be possible to get help through to those who needed it. British charities were already on the ground and delivering aid, and one of the criteria that had to be met before the committee’s trustees allowed a national appeal to go ahead was firm evidence that aid was reaching its targets.

“Agencies are already providing food, drugs and blankets as well as delivering clean water. But we will soon reach the limit of what we can do, without more money.”

ITV confirmed that an agreement could not be reached by broadcasters. “The DEC did ask broadcasters if they could support the appeal. We assessed the DEC’s request carefully against agreed criteria and were unable to reach the consensus which is necessary for an appeal,” a spokesman said.

Several aid charities announced their own appeals as soon as the conflict began, although these will now give way to the DEC appeal. Islamic Relief, a DEC member, has managed to raise £2 million, although other charities have struggled to get beyond tens of thousands of pounds.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5568735.ece


People more prepared to call a spade a spade on independent media:

BBC refuses to support Gaza aid appeal

Disgusted of East Grinsted | 22.01.2009 21:34 | Other Press | Palestine | Oxford

No support for Gaza - BBC declines to show DEC appeal under agreement dating back to 1963, leading to other outlets following suit

From the Guardian:
"The BBC has refused to broadcast a national humanitarian appeal for Gaza, leaving aid agencies with a potential shortfall of millions of pounds in donations."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/22/gaza-charity-appeal

So here's a possible complaint to the BBC that can be made on their website http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/complaints_stage1.shtml

I want to complain that the BBC has refused to support the DEC appeal for the survivors of the recent conflict in Gaza. I read about this story on the Guardian website http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/22/gaza-charity-appeal, and I think the reasons given by the BBC are incredible to say the least. There are two reasons given.

Firstly that the BBC is "concerned about the difficulties of getting aid through to victims in a volatile situation," and secondly that the BBC "did not want to risk public confidence in its impartiality."

DEC appeals are almost always in volatile situations (that is what most emergencies are). In Burma (the subject of a recent DEC appeal), the BBC was satisfied that, even when the military junta was dening access to the affected region, an appeal was worthwhile. The BBC has supported DEC appeals in Sudan and DRC. Are these not volatile? Perhaps aid agencies are better judges of where aid can be effectively delivered?

In terms of impartially, I understand the BBC's concerns. But the DEC appeal is not based on the rights and wrongs of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is based purely on the humanitarian principles that a group of people, their communities and their infrastructure have been virtually (and often literally) raised to the ground. I cannot see why the BBC, with its motto "let nation speak peace unto nation," sees any problems with impartially in helping civilians who are currently survivors of conflict, and will become victims unless they receive vast amounts of aid very quickly. To not support civilians who face this fate strikes me as less impartial than supporting them. The DEC has impartially written into its constitution, and this is enforced by UK charity law. Why can you not support them?

Please reverse your decision and support the DEC appeal as soon as possible.

Disgusted of East Grinsted

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/01/419825.html


BBC bans appeal for Gaza relief effort

hildy johnson | 22.01.2009 20:05 | Other Press | Birmingham | South Coast

Not a fan of charity myself but the Times has just broke the news that the Disasters Emergency Committe advert to raise funds for Gaza has just been banned by the BBC as it did not fit their "impartiality" agenda.

The BBC and other major broadcasters have broken a 45 year-old agreement with overseas aid charities by refusing to broadcast their fundraising appeal for Gaza.

The Disasters Emergency Committee launched its national appeal for Gaza today saying the devastation was so great the 12 leading British aid charities felt "compelled to act".

The DEC co-ordinates fundraising during international crises to try and maximise the impact.

But by far the biggest advantage of a DEC appeal is the free air-time given to it by the major broadcasters, usually after their main news bulletin in the evening. The agreement to grant free air time dates back to 1963, the year the big aid charities first came together for a joint appeal, and it has been sanctioned by broadcasting regulators.

However talks broke down on Wednesday evening when the broadcasters could not reach an agreement. By convention, if all broadcasters do not carry the appeal then none do.

It is understood that nervousness at the BBC that the appeal could result in the corporation having to compromise its coverage of the Gaza story was largely behind the failure to reach agreement.

In a statement the corporation admitted it did not want to risk compromising confidence in BBC impartiality.

"Along with other broadcasters, the BBC has decided not to broadcast the DEC’s public appeal to raise funds for Gaza. The BBC decision was made because of question marks about the delivery of aid in a volatile situation and also to avoid any risk of compromising public confidence in the BBC’s impartiality in the context of an ongoing news story. However the BBC will, of course, continue to report the humanitarian story in Gaza," it said.

Like other broadcasters, the BBC was prevented by Israel from sending in correspondents to cover the bombing, although it did manage to send out on-the-ground reports using one of its local producers who was there.

Speaking to The Times, Brendan Gormley, chief executive of the DEC, said he was saddened that the appeal would not be broadcast as it meant thousands of potential donors would not now be reached.

"We deeply regret this decision if it means our message doesn’t reach those who may want to give to a DEC appeal. We will soldier on but we recognise it will be much more of a struggle now to reach donors," he said.

He also questioned the BBC’s suggestion that it may not be possible to deliver much aid because the situation remained volatile. British charities were already on the ground and delivering aid. "Agencies are already providing food, drugs and blankets as well as delivering clean water. But we will soon reach the limit of what we can do, without more money," he said.

Several aid charities launched their own appeal as soon as the conflict began, although those will now cease now that the national DEC appeal is underway. Islamic Relief, a DEC member, has managed to raise £2 million, although other charities including Save the Children and the British Red Cross have struggled to get beyond tens of thousands of pounds. A national appeal from the DEC would normally raise about £10 million, but without the broadcasts the total is certain to be lower.

A spokesman for ITV confirmed an agreement could not be reached by broadcasters.

"The DEC did ask broadcasters if they could support the appeal. We assessed the DEC's request carefully against agreed criteria and were unable to reach the consensus which is necessary for an appeal," he said.

hildy johnson

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/01/419808.html