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The claim about Gaza was made by the UN's Humanitarian Chief in May - but was found to be based on a report saying 14,000 young children were at risk of malnutrition over a year
The BBC has provided additional information on a page featuring its video of a senior UN representative incorrectly claiming that in Gaza “14,000 babies will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them”, following a Jewish News request for clarification by the broadcaster.
In May, Tom Fletcher, the UN’s Humanitarian Chief, told the BBC that 14,000 babies in Gaza would die in a two-day period unless UN aid could reach them. The claim was made headlines around the world.
Jewish News found yesterday that a video of Fletcher making that claim was still available on the BBC News website – without any update as to the inaccuracy of his statement.
After Jewish News contacted the BBC, the corporation confirmed that “we have added a note to the relevant page, making clear that the figures were later clarified.” While the update does link to the BBC news story which shows that Fletcher’s claim was inaccurate, it does not specifically mention that inaccuracy, but manages to add a statement from the UN spokesperson which avoided a direct answer as to why Fletcher made such a claim, saying “We are pointing to the imperative of getting supplies in to save an estimated 14,000 babies suffering from severe acute malnutrition in Gaza, as the IPC partnership [Integrated Food Security Phase Classification] has warned about. We need to get the supplies in as soon as possible, ideally within the next 48 hours.”
Two weeks ago The Telegraph published a dossier from Michael Prescott, a former independent adviser to the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Board, containing a significant number of occasions where the Corporation had shown anti-Israel bias. One of the examples identified was connected to Tom Fletcher’s inaccurate claim, which the BBC was aware was inaccurate, given its follow-up questions to the UN on the subject. However, Prescott wrote that “despite this, Fletcher’s inaccurate claim was put to Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon on Newsnight. Why, when the BBC knew the suggestion was wrong?”
Prescott identified that in the same episode of Newsnight the BBC ran a story about a Gazan baby, Siwar Ashour, suffering from allergies and a congenital condition at risk of severe malnutrition.
“By the time of broadcast, the BBC already knew the story was out of date and that baby Siwar had received the necessary formula a week earlier, she was maintaining weight and had been discharged from hospital”, Prescott wrote.
“None of that was revealed in the programme – meaning the BBC had broadcast another inaccurate story.”
