Follow up on alleged barrel bomb reports in Syria

In an earlier post I described a letter of complaint I made to the BBC about their reporting on the Today programme about 'barrel bombs' being dropped from helicopters onto Aleppo in Syria.

Here is the response I received from the BBC:

Dear Mr Bennett

Reference CAS-2691041-FGBTXD

Thank you for contacting us regarding Today broadcast on 28 April 2014.

I understand you feel that a report by Ian Pannell regarding the air bombardment 
on Syrian civilians is false. I note you feel he’s not been to Syria and spends 
all of his time in Turkey.

I appreciate your concern and it was reported that a BBC team has witnessed the 
devastating effects of air bombardment on Syrian civilians after gaining rare 
access to rebel-held areas of Aleppo. It was also stated during the introduction 
that Ian spent three days in Aleppo.

The report explained that “Thousands of people are reported to have been killed 
or maimed in a campaign of aerial bombardment in northern Syria this year.”

Ian going on to state:

“The Syrian Government insists when they drop these bombs it’s targeting rebel 
positions and attacking those who have chosen to take over the country. What he 
calls terrorists.”

While I appreciate you may continue to feel the report was propaganda and that 
Ian Pannell wasn’t reporting from inside Syria. BBC journalists are well aware 
of our commitment to impartial reporting. They are expected to put their own 
political views to one side when carrying out their work for the BBC. They seek 
to provide the information which will enable viewers and listeners to make up 
their own minds; to show the political reality and provide the forum for debate, 
giving full opportunity for all viewpoints to be heard. Senior editorial staff, 
the Executive Committee and the BBC Trust keep a close watch on programmes to 
ensure that standards of impartiality are maintained.

It is not always possible or practical to reflect all the different opinions on 
a subject within individual programmes. Editors are charged to ensure that over 
a reasonable period they reflect the range of significant views, opinions and 
trends in their subject area. The BBC does not seek to denigrate any view, nor 
to promote any view. It seeks rather to identify all significant views, and to 
test them rigorously and fairly on behalf of the audience. Among other evidence, 
audience research indicates widespread confidence in the impartiality of the 
BBC's reporting.

Nevertheless, I acknowledge the strength of your complaint and I can assure you 
that I've registered your comments on our audience log.

This is the internal report of audience feedback which we compile daily for all 
programme makers and commissioning executives within the BBC, and also their 
senior management. It ensures that your points, and all other comments we 
receive, are made available across the BBC.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact us.

Kind Regards

Patrick Clyde

BBC Complaints

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I've recently discovered the MediaLens message board and the like-minded people who post there. I've presented this item and others to them and it has gathered some discussion. I think this forum might be of interest to some of my readers as it is to me.