The BBC has ordered staff to complete mandatory anti-Semitism training following a series of scandals at the broadcaster.
Tim Davie, the outgoing director-general, has told staff they have six months to complete the new course, which aims to end “any form of discrimination, prejudice, or intolerance” at the corporation.
It follows the publication by The Telegraph last month of an internal memo which revealed anti-Israel bias in the BBC’s news coverage, and prompted Mr Davie to resign.
The broadcaster has also been embroiled in controversy over a Gaza documentary, and its decision not to cut anti-Semitic chants from its coverage of rap act Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury set.
The documentary, called Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, prominently featured the son of a Hamas official, whose identity was not disclosed to viewers at the time. The revelation later led to it being pulled from the airwaves.
Meanwhile, BBC staff did not cut away from chants of “death, death to the IDF” during Bob Vylan’s set, and were criticised for allowing the broadcast to go ahead despite knowing it was “high risk”.
In a company-wide memo about the new discrimination training, staff have now been told that “anti-Semitism has no place at the BBC” and that the module “provides a framework of understanding for staff to spot and call out anti-Semitism”.
Staff have been told that the module involves “real world examples” of how anti-Semitism can appear in society, with a warning that this “understandably may be upsetting for some colleagues”.
Another module on Islamophobia will be made available to staff from February, they were told.
Mr Davie said: “The BBC is for everyone, and we are clear that everyone working here should feel they belong…the BBC Academy has spent the last few months developing new anti-discrimination training.”
The memo revealed that BBC’s Arabic news service chose to “minimise Israeli suffering” in the war in Gaza so it could “paint Israel as the aggressor”.
It also found that BBC Arabic had given a platform to journalists who had made extreme anti-Semitic comments, including one contributor who was featured 217 times despite describing a Palestinian who killed four Israeli citizens as a “hero” in 2022.
More from United Kingdom
The announcement of the training was welcomed by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, whose president Phil Rosenberg said there was an “urgent need for change in both culture and content at the corporation”.
The BBC Academy course on anti-Semitism was made in conjunction with the Jewish Staff Network, the Anti-Semitism Policy Trust and the Community Security Trust (CST).
The Telegraph’s publication of the memo also led to the resignation of the broadcaster’s head of news, Deborah Turness.
Last year, Sir Michael Ellis, the former attorney general, told MPs that the BBC was “institutionally anti-Semitic”, and that its reporting of the Israel-Hamas war had contributed to attacks on British Jews.
In February, Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservatives, wrote to Mr Davie to complain about BBC Arabic’s coverage, describing it as a “platform for terrorists” that was promoting “appalling anti-Semitism” to millions of viewers.
In his email, sent to staff on Thursday, Mr Davie added: “I know that everyone will be committed to the training, ensuring the BBC is a role model as an inclusive and tolerant workplace.”
2 Comments
Pingback: BBC Antisemitism Training Advises Against Criticising Zionists
Pingback: Washington Post Announces Departure of Publisher Will Lewis