Gerry
08-08-2006, 07:02 PM
http://www.jcpa.org/jl/vp511.htm
Systematic Abuse of Language
In order to proceed with his inquiry, Asserson hired an assistant at his own expense to physically record the broadcasted material. He also assembled a number of lawyers and historians to comprise a BBC Watch Committee with whom he consults in the preparation of his reports. "We had to work out an objective and reasonable method to analyze the material, which is the most difficult challenge. We decided which news reports to record, and thereafter transcribed them so that we had a full written text of what was broadcast."
Asserson then defined the different types of distortions. These definitions appear in his first report, published in March 2002, entitled "The BBC and the Middle East: A Critical Study," which he wrote together with research assistant Elisheva Mironi. They recorded the bulk of BBC news output on TV, radio, and website for a seven-week period (12 November 2001 to 30 December 2001). For comparison, they simultaneously recorded reports from a variety of other sources. All programs were recorded consistently to avoid any allegation that material had been analyzed on a selective or partial basis.
They concluded that the BBC was in frequent breach of the obligations of its charter and broadcasting license. For instance, it often showed partiality in its choice of language. "The BBC refused to label Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups as 'terrorists,' terming them 'militants,' 'hard liners,' or 'radicals' instead. When suicide bombers killed twenty-six Israeli civilians in attacks in Jerusalem and Haifa, the word 'terror' was used by the BBC only when describing Israel's retaliatory attacks on Palestinian targets.
"This was a breach of the BBC's own guidelines, which should govern all the BBC's material, including material posted on the Internet. By refusing to attribute the word 'terror' and 'terrorism' appropriately, the BBC breaches its own guidelines on five points, i.e., 'fairness, attachment to fundamental democratic principles, the audience should not be able to gauge reporters' personal views, fair usage of language, as well as not using language inadvertently so as to suggest value judgments, commitment or lack of objectivity.'"
Asserson also describes the BBC's abusive use of terms such as 'occupied Palestinian land,' or 'occupied Palestinian territories,' as if the West Bank and Gaza had ever belonged to an autonomous sovereign Palestinian entity. "The neutral and accurate term is 'disputed territories.' The BBC also frequently uses the adjective 'presidential' in connection with Chairman Arafat. This creates a misleading impression as his title is Ra'ees (chairman), which was carefully chosen in the Oslo agreements to avoid language implying statehood."
Asserson writes in conclusion on this subject: "Language is the principal medium for broadcast communication. Choice of language is fundamental to achieving an aim of impartiality. Where certain words or phrases have a specific legal or quasi-legal meaning that appears to support one side of a politically controversial debate, a neutral term should be used where available. The BBC's failure to do so must impute its claim to impartiality."
Systematic Abuse of Language
In order to proceed with his inquiry, Asserson hired an assistant at his own expense to physically record the broadcasted material. He also assembled a number of lawyers and historians to comprise a BBC Watch Committee with whom he consults in the preparation of his reports. "We had to work out an objective and reasonable method to analyze the material, which is the most difficult challenge. We decided which news reports to record, and thereafter transcribed them so that we had a full written text of what was broadcast."
Asserson then defined the different types of distortions. These definitions appear in his first report, published in March 2002, entitled "The BBC and the Middle East: A Critical Study," which he wrote together with research assistant Elisheva Mironi. They recorded the bulk of BBC news output on TV, radio, and website for a seven-week period (12 November 2001 to 30 December 2001). For comparison, they simultaneously recorded reports from a variety of other sources. All programs were recorded consistently to avoid any allegation that material had been analyzed on a selective or partial basis.
They concluded that the BBC was in frequent breach of the obligations of its charter and broadcasting license. For instance, it often showed partiality in its choice of language. "The BBC refused to label Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups as 'terrorists,' terming them 'militants,' 'hard liners,' or 'radicals' instead. When suicide bombers killed twenty-six Israeli civilians in attacks in Jerusalem and Haifa, the word 'terror' was used by the BBC only when describing Israel's retaliatory attacks on Palestinian targets.
"This was a breach of the BBC's own guidelines, which should govern all the BBC's material, including material posted on the Internet. By refusing to attribute the word 'terror' and 'terrorism' appropriately, the BBC breaches its own guidelines on five points, i.e., 'fairness, attachment to fundamental democratic principles, the audience should not be able to gauge reporters' personal views, fair usage of language, as well as not using language inadvertently so as to suggest value judgments, commitment or lack of objectivity.'"
Asserson also describes the BBC's abusive use of terms such as 'occupied Palestinian land,' or 'occupied Palestinian territories,' as if the West Bank and Gaza had ever belonged to an autonomous sovereign Palestinian entity. "The neutral and accurate term is 'disputed territories.' The BBC also frequently uses the adjective 'presidential' in connection with Chairman Arafat. This creates a misleading impression as his title is Ra'ees (chairman), which was carefully chosen in the Oslo agreements to avoid language implying statehood."
Asserson writes in conclusion on this subject: "Language is the principal medium for broadcast communication. Choice of language is fundamental to achieving an aim of impartiality. Where certain words or phrases have a specific legal or quasi-legal meaning that appears to support one side of a politically controversial debate, a neutral term should be used where available. The BBC's failure to do so must impute its claim to impartiality."