Originally posted: 2:33 pm:
Thanks to Guido Fawkes, two more Labour councillors have been suspended today for anti-Semitic Facebook posts - Salim Mulla and Ilyas Aziz.
One blamed ISIS and the Sandy Hook massacre on Israel and said, "Zionist Jews are a disgrace to humanity" while echoing Naz Shah's call for the Israeli population to be shifted en masse to the USA, calling it a "very easy solution"; the other also wanted Israeli Jews "relocated" to America, seems to believe that David Cameron is in hock to the Rothschilds, compares Israeli actions to those of Nazi Germany, and promoted the blood libel about Israelis drinking Gazan blood.
The Sky News home page has an article about the suspensions, as does ITV News.
The BBC News home page, in contrast, has nothing about it yet. There's not even anything about it on the BBC's Politics page .
The BBC News home page, in contrast, has nothing about it yet. There's not even anything about it on the BBC's Politics page .
Given that the most lowly UKIP councillor saying something slightly off colour would used to lead to prompt 'front page' treatment from the BBC, it's puzzling why the BBC website is being so slow to report it.
Unless it's because they are both Muslims.
UPDATE: Ah, they have reported it after all...
UPDATE: Ah, they have reported it after all...
You'll find the story (among many others) on their LIVE Elections and EU campaign latest blog.
Of course, that's not the same as having a prominent stand-alone article about the suspensions, such as Sky and ITV have already published, alongside The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mirror, The Daily Mail, Metro, even RT.
So the BBC appear to be downplaying the story.
FURTHER UPDATE: And when you read what the BBC has posted on their rolling election blog (mostly lifted from the Press Association), they've omitted the maddest, most damning stuff -especially from Mr. Aziz - and given us two examples of nice, on-message comments from Mr. Aziz instead.
That is a clear editorial choice from the BBC chaps running that live blog (Aiden James and Tom Moseley)...
...which, added to the editorial choice of more senior BBC News website editors not to make this a headline story on either their home page or their politics page, suggests that the downplaying of this story is very deliberate.
FINAL UPDATE (5.45 pm): And now, hours after Sky, the BBC has finally posted a stand-alone article on the story, Labour suspends councillors over 'relocate Israel' comments, and they've even put it on the BBC News website home page (under the somewhat more cryptic headline 'Labour suspends Israel row councillors'):
As for the BBC article itself, it continues to miss out the wildest, most damning of the Facebook comments posted at Guido Fawkes, places Labour's 'strong' actions against them and their denials of wrongdoing first, uses 'Not to do with religion' as a sub-headline, and then returns to their denials and Labour's 'strong' actions at the end.
The editorial decision-making and story-management going on at the BBC here becomes ever clearer and clearer.
I'm seriously not impressed.
FINAL FINAL UPDATE (6.00 pm): And within the last few minutes, the BBC has updated their article because - thanks again to Guido Fawkes - it's now a hat-trick of Muslim Labour councillors suspended today.
According to Guido, the latest - Burnley councillor Shah Hussain - tweeted to Israeli footballer Yossi Benayoun that “you and your country doing the same thing that hitler did to ur race in ww2” and said he hadn't been kicked in the head “hard enough” by another footballer, adding "#FreePalestine" to that lovely sentiment.
The BBC's updated article (the sub-headline has changed to ''Not about religion") omits the second bit of that and gives Mr. Hussain's counter-attack against "Jewish people" who "find it offensive" instead. Mr. Hussain will be fighting his suspension and his message to any offended Jewish people seems pretty much to amount to 'Tough!'
FINAL FINAL FINAL UPDATE (6.30 pm): Given all of this, you probably don't be surprised to learn that BBC One's main evening news bulletin today made no mention whatsoever of this story. Not a word.
FINAL FINAL FINAL FINAL UPDATE (6.55 pm): And would Radio 4's 6 o'clock bulletin (BBC One's grown-up sister bulletin) mention it among its plethora of stories? No. Again, not a word.
Three Labour councillors suspended in one day over allegations of anti-Semitism, all Muslim, yet not a word on either BBC One's or Radio 4's main evening news bulletins. Remarkable, isn't it?
BBC editorial decision-making (and flagrant 'Bias by Omission') in action.
I hardly think it could be any clearer.
It's not that the BBC hasn't covered the Labour anti-Semitism row up till now (it most certainly has, especially over Ken), it's just that something about this development in the story (three Muslim anti-Semites [allegedly], all in one go) seems to have stopped them in their tracks and made them sharply apply the brakes.
FURTHER UPDATE: And when you read what the BBC has posted on their rolling election blog (mostly lifted from the Press Association), they've omitted the maddest, most damning stuff -especially from Mr. Aziz - and given us two examples of nice, on-message comments from Mr. Aziz instead.
That is a clear editorial choice from the BBC chaps running that live blog (Aiden James and Tom Moseley)...
...which, added to the editorial choice of more senior BBC News website editors not to make this a headline story on either their home page or their politics page, suggests that the downplaying of this story is very deliberate.
FINAL UPDATE (5.45 pm): And now, hours after Sky, the BBC has finally posted a stand-alone article on the story, Labour suspends councillors over 'relocate Israel' comments, and they've even put it on the BBC News website home page (under the somewhat more cryptic headline 'Labour suspends Israel row councillors'):
As for the BBC article itself, it continues to miss out the wildest, most damning of the Facebook comments posted at Guido Fawkes, places Labour's 'strong' actions against them and their denials of wrongdoing first, uses 'Not to do with religion' as a sub-headline, and then returns to their denials and Labour's 'strong' actions at the end.
The editorial decision-making and story-management going on at the BBC here becomes ever clearer and clearer.
I'm seriously not impressed.
FINAL FINAL UPDATE (6.00 pm): And within the last few minutes, the BBC has updated their article because - thanks again to Guido Fawkes - it's now a hat-trick of Muslim Labour councillors suspended today.
According to Guido, the latest - Burnley councillor Shah Hussain - tweeted to Israeli footballer Yossi Benayoun that “you and your country doing the same thing that hitler did to ur race in ww2” and said he hadn't been kicked in the head “hard enough” by another footballer, adding "#FreePalestine" to that lovely sentiment.
The BBC's updated article (the sub-headline has changed to ''Not about religion") omits the second bit of that and gives Mr. Hussain's counter-attack against "Jewish people" who "find it offensive" instead. Mr. Hussain will be fighting his suspension and his message to any offended Jewish people seems pretty much to amount to 'Tough!'
FINAL FINAL FINAL UPDATE (6.30 pm): Given all of this, you probably don't be surprised to learn that BBC One's main evening news bulletin today made no mention whatsoever of this story. Not a word.
FINAL FINAL FINAL FINAL UPDATE (6.55 pm): And would Radio 4's 6 o'clock bulletin (BBC One's grown-up sister bulletin) mention it among its plethora of stories? No. Again, not a word.
******
Three Labour councillors suspended in one day over allegations of anti-Semitism, all Muslim, yet not a word on either BBC One's or Radio 4's main evening news bulletins. Remarkable, isn't it?
BBC editorial decision-making (and flagrant 'Bias by Omission') in action.
I hardly think it could be any clearer.
It's not that the BBC hasn't covered the Labour anti-Semitism row up till now (it most certainly has, especially over Ken), it's just that something about this development in the story (three Muslim anti-Semites [allegedly], all in one go) seems to have stopped them in their tracks and made them sharply apply the brakes.
