Channel 4 Gaza conflict coverage to be investigated

Channel 4 News’ coverage of the Gaza conflict will be investigated by BICOM to assess the possibility of regulatory action by Ofcom, it was announced last night as community leaders came under pressure over their response to the Israel-Hamas war.

Speaking at an often tense community meeting on how British Jewry could respond to the conflict, Dermot Kehoe,chief executive of the British Israel Communications  & Research Centre, said he had been uncomfortable with Channel 4 News’ coverage, particular presenter Jon Snow’s online piece from Gaza.

In an strikingly emotional and direct appeal published following his visit to Gaza last month, Snow said: “That’s what makes this something that every one of us has to confront. We have to know that in some way we share some responsibility for those deaths. We cannot let it go on… together we can make a difference.”

* MORE: Community leaders accused of failing British Jews over Gaza – click here

The clip, viewed more than a million times, was backed by Channel 4 after being published on Youbtube and on the channel’s website. it was not broadcast online.

Once the situation had died down, Mr Kehoe said Bicom would look through “every bit of coverage” to see if there was a case for regulatory action under Ofcom rules on impartiality.

However, he said Mr Snow’s much criticised online documentation of the conflict may fall outside Ofcom’s scope.

It came as the Board of Deputies faced accusations of being too reactive and failing to show leadership during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.