bbc editorial complaints unit response to tim willcox complaints

7/21/2019 BBC Editorial Complaints Unit Response to Tim Willcox Complaints

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bbc-editorial-complaints-unit-response-to-tim-willcox-complaints 1/4

British Broadcasting Corporation White City, 201 Wood Lane, London, W12 7TQ

Telephone: 020 8743 8000 Email: ecu@c!co!u"

Editorial Complaints Unit

20 February 2015

News Channel, 11 January 2015

I’m writing to let you know the provisional outcome of the Editorial omplaints !nit’sinvestigation into complaints about the interview conducted by "im #illco$% I shall address the

points of complaint as summarised by my colleague &ndrew 'ell in his email to you( but( as it’sclear from the terms of many of the complaints we received that the complainants had seen onlya brief clip from the interview( I’d like to begin by filling in some of the conte$t%

"here had been live coverage of events in )aris throughout the day on the channel( presented by"im #illco$( *yse +oucet and ,ishal -usain% .eportage was interspersed with interviews( anumber of which reflected on the respective situations of France’s /ewish and ,uslimcommunities in the light of the recent events% "he seuence containing the comments which

prompted you to complain began at about %0pm( with ,r #illco$ having taken up a positionon a balcony overlooking the 'oulevard oltaire( the main route being followed by the march%-e introduced a pair of friends( one ,uslim 3&4i4( born in France of &lgerian parents and one/ewish 3hava( born in Israel of )olish parents% -is first uestion set the tone of the interview6

How important is it today for people from both your backgrounds, do you think, to show the world, to show extremists, that actually two cultures, two religions, live side

by side happily?

hava replied to the effect that there was no option for them other than to live together% -ene$t asked &4i4 why the gunmen involved in the attacks 3like him( from north &frican ,uslim

backgrounds felt so alienated% &4i4 referred mainly to social issues in France( a sense ofe$clusion among some in the ,uslim community( and instances of e$treme poverty in some

predominantly ,uslim areas% &fter a uestion to &4i4 about the impact on the ,uslimcommunity of cartoons depicting ,ohammed( ,r #illco$ had the following e$change withhava6

TW: Do you ever feel threatened or frightened by the uslim community here,

because if you look at the figures more !ews in "rance seem to be leaving "rance thanin other #uropean countries$ , and yet "rance has the biggest population of !ews, as itdoes indeed of uslims, in #urope% Do you feel that fear?

&hava: ' didn(t feel this fear until last days, ' have to say% )s '(m coming from%%%it(snot the same for !ews being born here and 'sraeli coming to here% This is twodifferent populations% 'sraelis, when they come to "rance, they have somethingalready inside them, they are not, we are not afraid, we know that every moment wecan go somewhere else% We have like a back very strong% The !ews which were bornhere, they are coming from another culture, so it(s completely different% *ut ' can tellthat since a few days ' feel again not secure and not%%%'t(s something which is very, and

1 & point which had been noted by a number of previous speakers( in the conte$t of )resident-ollande’s promise of enhanced security for the /ewish community and his planned meetingwith /ewish community leaders that evening%



' was talking to )+i+ also, ' feel that now it(s like in $-.s, we are%%%the situation is going back to these days of $-. in #urope%

TW: *ut do you think it can be rescued now with the right approach, with a moreinclusive society addressing the problems that people have?

&hava: ' didn(t understand completely your%%%

TW: Do you think that can be resolved, though, now, before it(s too late?

&hava: /es of course 0 we have to, we have to not to be afraid to say that the !ews arebeing the, they are the target now% 't(s not only the%%%the%%%er%%%

TW: any critics, though, of 'srael(s policy would suggest that the 1alestinians sufferhugely at !ewish hands as well%

&hava: We cannot do an amalgam%%%to%%%between%%%

TW: *ut you understand everything is seen from different perspectives%%%

&hava: 2f course, but this is not my%%%er%%%

TW: 3o, ' understand%

"he e$changes concluded with two further uestions to &4i4( about what the day’sdemonstration might have achieved( and about French legislation on the wearing of the veil in

public%

I think it’s clear from what I’ve uoted above that ,r #illco$’s reference to the )alestinians(though framed as a statement( was in effect a uestion put to hava for comment% I wouldaccept that 3as ,r #illco$ has himself acknowledged what he said was poorly7phrased( butwhat the Editorial omplaints !nit must decide is whether his words amounted to a serious

breach of the ''’s editorial standards% "hat’s the uestion I’ll be keeping in mind as I addressthe particular points of complaint as summarised by my colleague%

• That the 4uestion put by Tim Willcox to an interviewee was misleading in that it linked

the 1aris killings in a kosher supermarket with events in the iddle #ast5

8othing in the day’s coverage of events in )aris suggested a direct link between events in the,iddle East and those killings( and I can’t see that such a suggestion can readily be derived fromwhat ,r #illco$ said%

• That the 4uestion was offensive and anti67emitic in that it suggested that all !ews were

responsible for the actions of 'srael

,any complainants argue that the uestion must be regarded as anti79emitic because it falls foulof a definition of anti79emitism which includes 8Holding !ews collectively responsible foractions of the state of 'srael9( and which they attribute to the European ,onitoring entre on.acism and :enophobia 3E!,2% "hat( however( seems to me an unduly harsh construction

2 In fact the phrase isn’t part of the E!, definition( but is one of a number of e$amples provided of what might be considered anti79emitic under the definition( sub;ect to 8taking into

account the overall context9% "he E!, definition was withdrawn in 200< by its successororganisation( the European !nion &gency for Fundamental .ights( which has published nodefinition of its own%

2



of what ,r #illco$ said% In the light of the opening reference to 8'sraeli policy9( it seems tome more natural to construe 8!ewish hands9 as referring to Israeli /ews 3insofar as they might

be responsible for the formulation or e$ecution of Israeli policy( rather than to /ews collectively%I would accept that it was inept to use a form of words which was even open to the firstconstruction( but I would regard that as an aspect of the poor phrasing already acknowledged(rather than a manifestation of anti79emitism%

• That the 4uestion was offensive and anti67emitic in that it suggested that !ews were

responsible for the murder of other !ews5

• That the 4uestion was offensive because it triviali+ed the Holocaust5

I take these points together because I think they both go beyond any meaning that canlegitimately be taken from ,r #illco$’s words% In the immediate conte$t of what hava had

;ust said( the meaning seems to me to be only that there are some 38any critics%%%of 'sraeli policy9 who regard at least some /ews as perpetrators of violence or discrimination rather than3or as well as targets of them% I can see that such a uestion might be regarded as inopportuneat such a ;uncture( but not that it was offensive( or anti79emitic( in the senses complained ofabove%

• That the 4uestion displayed bias against 'srael5

"here might be grounds for such a complaint if ,r #illco$ had endorsed the view he attributedto critics of Israeli policy( but he didn’t%

• That Tim Willcox(s comment 8*ut you understand everything is seen from different

perspectives9 suggested there was a ustification for the killings5

&gain( this seems to me to impute more meaning to what ,r #illco$ said than it can bear% &smay be clear from the portion of his e$change with hava I’ve transcribed above( they were

having some difficulty in maintaining mutual comprehension( and I think ,r #illco$’s commentis better understood as an effort to draw the e$change to a conclusion rather than to make a

particular point% In any event( 8everything is seen from different perspectives9 is barely morethan a truism( and it doesn’t suggest that all perspectives are eually ;ustified%

• That the interviewee was not treated with appropriate respect5

I see nothing in ,r #illco$’s comments which is intrinsically disrespectful( and I saw nothing inhava’s demeanour to suggest that she felt disrespected% I understand that ,r #illco$’s

producer contacted hava after the broadcast and that she assured him that she hadn’t been inthe least offended%

• That the terms of the apology from Tim Willcox were inade4uate and failed to address

what was inaccurate and offensive about his remarks5

• That posting an apology on a private Twitter account - was inade4uate and that it

should have been published by the **&%

"hese points rest on the premise that ,r #illco$’s comments constituted a serious breach ofeditorial standards( of a kind which would reuire due public correction and apology% I hope it’sapparent from what I’ve written above that I don’t share that premise% I share ,r #illco$’s

view that his comments were poorly7phrased( but I think they were no worse than that%

= In fact it was his personal '' account%

=



&ccordingly( I’m not proposing to uphold the complaints received by the Editorial omplaints!nit% "his( however( is a provisional finding( and I’ll be happy to consider any comments youmay wish to make before I finalise it( provided you let me have them by > ,arch%

?ours sincerely

Fraser Steel-ead of Editorial omplaints

bbc editorial complaints unit response to tim willcox complaints

Documents