No, the BBC isn’t biased against Israel – but is anyone convinced?

Director general Tim Davie was grilled by Conservative MPs over the broadcaster’s refusal to use the word ‘terrorist’ to describe Hamas. Former BBC head Roger Mosey says the corporation got it right this time – but that its decision-making must be done out in the open

‘BBC bias is there – but in its reporting of Britain and social affairs’ (PA)

The BBC’s director general Tim Davie survived his grilling by the Conservatives’ 1922 Committee on the broadcaster’s coverage of the Middle East. It is right that they challenged him, and right that he fought back. On this most vital of topics, the reporting should be subject to scrutiny – but the BBC, generally, has a strong record it can defend.

I have not been shy, internally or now externally, to call out BBC bias when I see it – and it is still there, sometimes in social affairs and the reporting of Britain. However, I have never perceived a systemic bias in the corporation’s coverage of Israel and the Middle East.

It is extraordinarily difficult to get the balance right, and there will inevitably be imperfections in the daily bulletins across multiple services. However, nobody has provided convincing evidence that there is a long-term tilt, either towards Israel or the Palestinians – and it is unfair to the BBC’s journalists to assert that they take sides on this issue, or that they would tolerate their colleagues being partisan.