BBC’s ex-director of TV calls for independent review into its Israel-Hamas war reporting

The BBC’s former director of television has called for an independent review into the corporation’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, accusing one diplomatic correspondent of showing pro-Palestine bias.

Danny Cohen, who was director of BBC Television between 2013-15, claimed the Jewish community in this country is “being harmed through its unbalanced reporting” since the Hamas terrorist atrocities.

Cohen singled out Caroline Hawley, the BBC’s diplomatic correspondent, for particular criticism saying her own social media platform was “biased, unbalanced” and “reads like a series of press releases from Hamas central command”.

Former BBC controller Cohen called for an inquiry into the corporation’s wider coverage following a series of rows as he wrote for The Telegraph.

Cohen singled out Caroline Hawley, the BBC’s diplomatic correspondent, for particular criticism saying her own social media platform was “biased, unbalanced” and “reads like a series of press releases from Hamas central command”.

He said: “Day after day, Hawley reposts messages and photographs from Gaza without context or any apparent attempt at basic journalistic verification. There is barely a mention of the October 7 massacres or the ongoing plight of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

“So why has Hawley been allowed to continue to report in such a biased, unbalanced way? Is the BBC OK with her reporting or unable to control it? This is a question it must urgently answer.”

Cohen added “the BBC’s credibility with the Jewish community is reaching a point of no return”.

He said: “With these incidents piling up on a daily basis there is only one conclusion to draw. Either the BBC’s senior management is complicit in these egregious examples of bias, these regular breaches of its guidelines, or it lacks the ability to control the output of its own organisation.”

Michael Ellis, the former attorney general for England and Wales, backed Mr Cohen’s call for an independent inquiry of the BBC’s coverage.

The senior Conservative MP told The Telegraph: “The BBC are still concealing the contents of a report conducted nearly 20 years ago that was commissioned because of allegations then of BBC bias against Israel in their reporting on the Middle East.”

The Telegraph said that just 18 of the BBC’s diplomatic correspondent Hawley’s 195 tweets and retweets since the Israel-Hamas war began on 7 October have mentioned Israeli deaths, casualties and hostages, including case studies of families captured.

A BBC spokesman said: “We take complaints about social media use very seriously, especially on such a sensitive and contested subject, and investigate accordingly. Impartiality is crucial for BBC news staff, and our guidelines require them to reflect a wide range of opinion in their social media. We will continue to remind all our journalists of their responsibilities.”