Following the decision by BBC Trust yesterday to back Thompson on his refusal to broadast the DEC GAza aid appeal, a petition signed by almost 400 staff was handed to the director general’s office in White City today (Friday Feb 20) at 13.00. A copy of the petition was also be simultaneously delivered to the BBC Trust in Marylebone High Street.
The petition comes as the latest form of protest from BBC staff to Thompson’s decision. A number of BBC National Union of Journalists (NUJ) branches have already called upon Thompson to reverse his decision.
The DG has had at least a couple of meetings with staff members concerned about the DEC issue over the past weeks. In both meetings Thompson faced strong criticism from staff who felt that his decision, far from preserving the impartiality of BBC, has in fact caused considerable damage to the organization’s reputation.
The petition reads:
To Mark Thompson,
As BBC employees we are writing to express our deep disappointment with your decision to reject broadcasting the Disasters and Emergency Committee Gaza Appeal.
We strongly disagree with your assessment about the effect that such a broadcast would have on the impartiality of BBC. By denying the victims of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza a chance of assistance, the BBC is actually taking sides. DEC aid appeals for victims of armed conflicts have been broadcast by BBC in the past, such as the appeals for Congo and Darfur, and we see no reason why the victims of this conflict should be treated differently. Far from preserving the impartiality of BBC, we feel this decision has in fact caused considerable damage to our organization’s reputation.
Today the BBC stands alone among British broadcasters – with the exception of Sky News – in its refusal to air the appeal. Numerous public figures have spoken out against this decision and thousands of complaints have been made to the BBC. All this shows that BBC is out of line with British public opinion on this matter.
We strongly urge you to reverse your decision, in order to preserve the reputation of BBC as an impartial and fair organization, not only among license fee payers but also among our audience worldwide. Over several decades the BBC has managed to build a large audience base in different parts of the world and we feel that your decision has seriously damaged this global standing.
The victims of Gaza deserve the aid appeal like any other victims of humanitarian crises. The conflict they are caught in is as controversial as any other armed conflict in the world and singling them out is what harms the BBC’s reputation of impartiality.
