OPINION: A lesson in media accountability
After months of egregious misreporting across TV media, Good Morning Britain stood out with a rare and sincere apology over its Holocaust Memorial Day coverage
The last 16 months have seen many examples of egregious misreporting from different TV media outlets. Commentators have made bizarre and ill-informed statements which have led us to question their basic competency. Propaganda drivel released by proscribed terrorist groups has been reported as fact. And we have looked on, aghast as vocal antisemites and conspiracy theorists were invited onto programmes as contributors.
We have, of course, complained when this has happened; as organisations and campaigns, activists and individuals. Yet all too often, it has appeared that the standard response for TV outlets to rightful anger from our community has been to circle the wagons. Protecting the media organisation has, regretfully, often been prioritised over righting clear wrongs.
But this attitude is not universal. I want to talk about a recent example of good practice, which I believe that other TV channels would be wise to emulate. I am talking about Good Morning Britain and its response to the events of Holocaust Memorial Day.
On the 27 January, many TV outlets dedicated considerable time to focusing on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, which marks HMD. Good Morning Britain described Holocaust Memorial Day as being about the deaths of “six million people”, neglecting to mention that they were Jews. A few seconds later, some other groups targeted by the Nazis – including Polish people, disabled people and gay people – were specifically named. This led to fury from within the Jewish community.
To understand why the reaction was so visceral, one needs to understand the context. Within the last few years, but particularly this year, Jewish people have seen consistent attempts to deny, downplay or invert our people’s most grievous tragedy. Jewish suffering has been excised or used as a weapon with which to attack us. The statement on GMB, therefore, appeared to add insult to injury.
So far, regrettably when it comes to UK news television, so normal. But what happened next was not normal at all.
We contacted ITV, to ask for an explanation and a meeting. Within a week, we had met Andrew Dagnell, director of news and current affairs at ITV, as well as Neil Thompson, editor of Good Morning Britain itself. At that meeting, and again subsequently in print, Mr Dagnell told us that he “apologise[d] unreservedly for this. Everyone at ITV understands the gravity and seriousness of this incident, and the deep anguish it has caused in the Jewish community. We are deeply sorry and hope we can rebuild any broken trust.”
Mr Dagnell made it clear that ITV had only become aware of the error after the broadcast had ended – and that if they had realised earlier, they would have made an apology and correction live on air that day rather than the next day. He told us that “scripts on subjects involving political or cultural sensitivities – such as this story – would ordinarily be scrutinised by the programme’s deputy editor. However, this did not happen on the morning of Monday 27 January due to an unforeseen logistical difficulty regarding the launch of news bulletins on the programme’s TikTok service.”
The ITV News response to us should – in an ideal world – be something that all major TV news outlets in this country are encouraged to follow
He also told us: “The Good Morning Britain team has reviewed how the error happened and what can be done to prevent it happening again. Further training is being given in this regard, and scripts will be checked more thoroughly, with further protocols in place. In future, as an additional step, the assistant editor on the night shift will double check news bulletins before they are broadcast.”
There were other elements to our conversation. He confirmed that ITV News uses the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism with regards to editorial decisions – something which many other media outlets have been extremely reticent to comment on. We also discussed the importance of a Jewish staff network at ITV for Jewish employees – some of whom we have been liaising with – and he confirmed that this was to be set up, with its first meeting in March.
I know – and understand – that there will be some reading this who will respond with cynicism, believing I am being naïve. Others will, correctly, say that the proof of such sincerity by GMB will come via their actions going forward, rather than words now. But I can tell you that I have not previously seen such a response.
Often, after a particularly awful example of journalistic malpractice, Jewish community representatives can push for a meeting, which might only be arranged for months after the fact. The meeting can then be strained, with Jewish representatives feeling that they are being humoured – and that the outlet’s representatives feel that it is a major concession to us that they have agreed to a meeting at all.
The GMB response to us should – in an ideal world – be something that all major TV news programmes in this country are encouraged to follow. It would be a major shot in the arm for the Jewish community’s faith in such institutions, which has been significantly eroded in recent years. It would also, incidentally, be the right thing for them to do.
It is my hope that in the future I will be able to write a follow-up piece to this one lauding other TV media organisations for following GMB’s positive example. Chances might seem slim, but if one prominent news channel can do it, others can too.
Andrew Gilbert is vice president of the Board of Deputies
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