Former Director of BBC Television Danny Cohen has told MPs that the BBC is facing a “systemic problem” of bias that the Corporation has to admit to before it can fix.
Mr Cohen was briefing MPs about the landscape for Jews in media and culture at a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Jews, for which the Board of Deputies provides the secretariat.
On the same day that the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee was taking evidence from BBC Chair Samir Shah and other top BBC officials, Mr Cohen warned:
“The BBC’s bias on Israel and other issues is passed off as a series of mistakes, but in fact reflects a systemic problem which the organisation is unwilling to admit to and therefore cannot fix. Until it cleans house and addresses issues with biased reporting, poor due diligence, and open antisemitism at BBC Arabic, it will continue to face a crisis of credibility.”
At the same meeting, which was the AGM of the APPG, MPs and peers elected Peter Prinsley to Co-Chair the organisation alongside current chair David Simmonds MP CBE, after previous Co-Chair Dan Tomlinson became a minister in the last reshuffle. Feryal Clark MP and Lord Monroe Palmer were elected as vice chairs.
The parliamentarians also heard a presentation from Board of Deputies President Phil Rosenberg about the context of British Jews following the Heaton Park attack and after two years of war between Israel and Hamas. Whilst suggesting some of the key measures needed to tackle the challenges facing the UK Jewish community, he told the MPs and peers of plans for a new British Jewish Culture Month. The Board president said that the story of the Jewish community must not be reduced to one of pain, but also celebrate the contribution of British Jews to UK society, economy and culture. He said that what was needed was “less ‘oy’, and more joy”.