Comprehensive new research finds the BBC coverage of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza is systematically biased against Palestinians and fails to reach standards of impartiality.
Analysis of more than 35,000 pieces of BBC content by the Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM) shows Israeli deaths are given 33 times more coverage per fatality, and both broadcast segments and articles included clear double standards. BBC content was found to consistently shut down allegations of genocide.
These findings directly contradict claims by authors of a September 2024 report on BBC impartiality. Led by Israel-based British lawyer and Zionist Trevor Asserson, the Asserson report’s authors alleged their study across a four-month period revealed a “deeply worrying pattern of bias” against Israel. The Asserton report was funded in part by an anonymous “Israeli businessman based in London” and carried out by Israeli lawyers as part of an opaque group called Research for Impartial Media (RIMe). It received tech support from AI company Blueskai, which describes itself as “fortified by strategic roots in Israel’s prime minister’s office”.
The CfMM research found that the BBC used emotive terms – “brutal”, “atrocities”, “slaughter”, “barbaric”, “deadly” – four times more often for Israeli victims. It applied the term “massacre” 18 times more to Israeli casualties, and used the word “murder” 220 times for Israeli deaths compared to just once for Palestinians. The words “butchered”, “butcher” and “butchering” were found to be used exclusively for Israeli victims by BBC correspondents and presenters.
Despite Gaza suffering 34 times more casualties than Israel, the BBC ran almost equal numbers of humanising victim profiles. It was also found to have attached “Hamas-run health ministry” to Palestinian casualty figures in 1,155 articles – almost every time the Palestinian death toll was referenced across BBC articles.
The BBC was found to consistently and repeatedly suppress allegations of genocide. BBC presenters shut down genocide claims in over 100 documented instances, while making zero mention of Israeli leaders’ genocidal statements, including Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s biblical Amalek reference...
When reporting on attacks on Palestinians, the study found the BBC repeatedly obscured Israeli responsibility through the use of passive language in headlines. Israeli perspectives were found to be prioritised, with BBC presenters sharing the Israeli perspective 11 times more frequently than the Palestinian perspective – 2,340 times for Israeli compared to 217 times for Palestinian...