Complaint
A viewer questioned the impartiality of this programme, claiming it devoted a disproportionate amount of time to the deaths of Israelis as compared to the deaths of Palestinians. The ECU considered whether the programme met the relevant editorial standards.
Outcome
The 91福利社鈥檚 Editorial Guidelines make clear that impartiality does not demand precise equivalence in coverage, particularly where enormous asymmetry exists in terms of the number of casualties, and where fatalities on one side may disproportionately affect the prospects for peace. This bulletin included a report on a bus attack in Jerusalem, the first such incident for some time. The newsworthiness of the event was not simply a matter of the number of people who died but also of what the incident said about Israel鈥檚 security in light of Prime Minister Netanyahu鈥檚 justifications for the war in Gaza and increased military presence in the West Bank. The report also described deaths from Israel鈥檚 attacks on Gaza, over footage of rocket attacks on residential buildings. That part of the report, in the ECU鈥檚 view, served to illustrate the fact that, despite heavy Israeli military activity, the underlying conflict remained unresolved.
Not Upheld