Here is my reply from the BBC Complaints' Philip Young in relation to Today report on the massacre of nine activists on the Gaza flotila the day after the event. It does show that it is worth complaining, although by not saying when the reports he mentions were broadcast, he is not answering my specific complaint. If you do complain, use the BBC Trust guidelines.
Dear Mr Gill Reference 114615 Thank you for your e-mail. I understand you’re unhappy because you believe we didn’t feature a balanced report on BBC Radio 4 regarding the Freedom Flotilla aid convey after it was boarded by Israeli troops. The BBC strongly rejects allegations of bias for or against either Israel or the Palestinians. Impartiality is a cornerstone of our reporting and our editors and reporters are committed to achieving the highest of standards for our coverage of the Middle East. On this story we have been careful to report a range of perspectives. We have broadcast a number of interviews with both Palestinian and Israeli contributors and our correspondents have, for example, reported from Gaza and West Jerusalem as well as Istanbul. BBC News has given considerable coverage to the point of view of the activists on board the flotilla and that of Palestinians. For example, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mairead Corrigan was interviewed from one of the ships in the flotilla as well as relatives of people on board the ships. The founder of the Free Gaza movement, Dr Eyad Sarraj and Claudio Cordone from Amnesty International have also featured in our output. We carried an interview with Hasan Noworah, a British citizen (originally from Ramallah) and chairman of the Justice for Palestine Centre in Glasgow. He was on one of the ships in the convoy and after he returned to the UK he told us of the moment his ship was confronted by Israeli officials in international waters. Interviews with Palestinians have included the Palestinian human rights lawyer, Diana Buttu, the adviser to the Palestinian President ,Sabri Saidam; presidential aide Nabil Sha'ath; the Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council and senior member of Hamas, Aziz Duwaik; and Palestinian Legislative Council members Hanan Ashwarai and Mustafa Barghouti. Also to highlight the importance of the flotilla, the very departure of the aid vessels bound for Gaza was a global news story and we first covered it in the early hours of the morning on 27 May jointly on the BBC News Channel and World TV coverage. The script that morning read as follows: "The organisers of a flotilla of ships trying to deliver aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip say the boats have set sail from Cyprus. Between them, the boats are carrying about ten thousand tons of aid. Gaza has been under an Israeli blockade for the past three years, and Israel says it's ready to intercept the convoy and deport the activists. Jon Donnison reports from Gaza City." An hour later we interviewed our correspondent Jon Donnison live from Gaza about the flotilla. We can’t agree with your concerns of bias on this report, however I'd like to assure you that I've registered your complaint on our Audience Log. This is daily report of audience feedback which is circulated to BBC staff, including members of the BBC Executive board, channel controllers and other senior managers. The Audience Logs are seen as important documents that can help shape decisions on future BBC programmes and content. Once again, thank you for contacting us. Kind Regards Philip Young
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