Correspondence with the BBC

Below is some correspondence I had with the BBC about this article on an IDF strike in Gaza.

BBC Headline: 'Five dead as Israelis strike Gaza', 5 May, 2006

My letter:

The headline and introductory paragraph must state who is killed. If 'militants' are killed the headline must read 'Five Militants are Killed'. Otherwise, the reader is unclear whether or not civilians or combatants were killed. This is crucial to the issues and debate in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. The second paragraph quotes what the Israeli army spokeswoman 'said' (that 'militants' were targeted) but this is not only the claims of the army but established fact as is easily verifiable from other news sources such as Ha'aretz. Palestinian sources confirmed this. The article does not categorically state at any point that five members of the Popular Resistance Committees were killed and so the reader is never properly informed of the nature of the incident. Such ambiguity in reporting the events in Israel and the Palestinian territories detracts from the accuracy and reliability of the BBC's reports and needs to be rectified.

BBC Response:

Dear Mr Cantankerous Camel (name changed for security reasons ;-))

Thank you for your e-mail regarding the article entitled 'Five dead as
Israelis strike Gaza'.

I understand that you are concerned that the article was too ambiguous and
left readers confused as to whether combatants or civilians have been
killed. I can assure you that rigorous checks are carried out before
articles are posted online, however, I appreciate that you feel on this
occasion more care should have been taken to establish exact details on the
incident.

Please be assured Mr Cantankerous Camel that your feelings have been fully registered and have been made available to our news department and senior BBC management.

Thank you once again for contacting us.

Regards

Richard Carey
BBC Information