Ofcom confirms ‘significant failings’ in BBC Chanukah bus attack report

An Ofcom investigation into the BBC’s reporting of the Oxford Street Chanukah bus attack on a group of Jewish students has uncovered “significant editorial failings” following the broadcast.

The BBC’s reports of the November 2021 incident claimed that an audio recording made during the incident included anti-Muslim slurs – which it later changed to the singular “slur” – which came from inside the bus.

Shortly afterwards, it received evidence which disputed this interpretation of the audio.

But in a report published on Monday Ofcom concluded the BBC “failed to promptly acknowledge that the audio was disputed and did not update its online news article to reflect this for almost eight weeks.”

They added:” During this time the BBC was aware that the article’s content was causing significant distress and anxiety to the victims of the attack and the wider Jewish community.”

BBC “failed to promptly acknowledge that the audio was disputed and did not update its online news article to reflect this for almost eight weeks.

The broadcasting watchdog added that “in our opinion, was a significant failure to observe its editorial guidelines to report news with due accuracy and due impartiality.”

The report “also carefully considered a related news report broadcast on BBC London News”.

It said: “Our investigation took into account the steps the BBC took, the information reasonably available to the BBC at the time of broadcast, as well as the fact that the report’s primary focus was on the antisemitic attack.

“Given these contextual factors, we concluded that at the time it was broadcast and for the 24 hour period it was available on the BBC iPlayer, the programme did not breach our rules.

“That said, the BBC made a serious editorial misjudgment` by not reporting on air, at any point, that the claim it had made about anti-Muslim slurs was disputed, once new evidence emerged. ”

A spokesperson for the BBC said: “While Ofcom has found that our reporting was not in breach of the Broadcasting Code, the BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit ruled in January this year that more could have been done sooner to acknowledge the differing views about what could be heard on the recording of the attack. The BBC apologised at the time for not acting sooner to highlight that the content of the recording was contested.”

The Board of Deputies had sparked the Ofcom probe after complaining about the report and the impact it had on both the victims and the community.

Welcoming the decision president Marie van der Zyl said: “Ofcom’s ruling on the BBC’s conduct in relation to the antisemitic Oxford Street attack has made it clear that ‘the BBC failed to observe its editorial guidelines on due impartiality and due accuracy’ and has described the corporation’s ‘serious editorial misjudgement’ in this matter.

“This ruling, in response to the Board’s written complaint, validates our significant concern over the BBC’s actions on this issue. We will now consider whether to take this issue to a judicial review.”

Claudia Mendoza, co-chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council added:“This is a welcome finding from Ofcom and validates the serious concerns of the Jewish community.

“We look forward to hearing what actions the BBC will be putting in place to stop this from happening again.”

The damning finding concluded: “This failure to respond promptly and transparently created an impression of defensiveness by the BBC among the Jewish community.

“It demonstrates that the BBC has further to go in learning how to respond when its reporting is in contention. We will review how the BBC has addressed the complaints handling and transparency issues raised by this case.”

The incident, which occurred on 29 November last year, involved a group of about 40 young Jewish people aboard a Chanukkah party bus travelling along London’s Oxford Street that was attacked by a group of men who swore, made Nazi salutes, and threw a shopping basket at them.