Richard Black - an apology

>> THURSDAY, MAY 13, 2010

 

A biased bbc reader writes...

"Mosab Hassan Yousef is the eldest son of a senior Hamas commander. He was arrested by Shin Bet and beaten by three of their agents. He points out that this is not Shin Bet or Israeli policy, but the actions of individual agents who hate Palestinians. He has converted to Christianity and now works to save lives - Israeli or Palestinian. If that means informing on Hamas or Fatah operations he will do it. He blames the war not of Israelis or Palestinians but on ideology - specifically the Koran.

He was presumably asked onto Hardtalk on account of a book he has written. Zeinab Badawi persistently interrupted him, and tried to divert him from points he wanted to make to issues which she considered more important. Badawi is from a Muslim background, though whether she is a practising Muslim is not known to me. It was obvious that Yousef's criticism of Palestinians and Islam were getting under her skin. That Yousef should hold up a Koran at the end and blame it for the whole Israel/Palestine conflict must have shot a dagger through her multicultural spleen. Watch for yourself."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00sggyw/HARDtalk_Mosab_Hassan_Yousef_Palestinian_who_spied_for_Israel/

Richard Black - an apology

I have had a communication from Richard Black of the BBC (and his lawyer) that in the interests of fairness and debate, I must share with you. Indeed, he is threatening to sue me if I do not. He asserts that a piece I wrote about him on this blog, suggesting that he makes money from chairing climate change conferences, is wrong. He writes: 

You draw these various strands together by saying that I and the BBC are "in bed" with "shadowy forces" that "pull the strings of the climate debate".

I will make three things clear to you:
- I was not paid to facilitate at this meeting
- I do not "make a tidy income" from chairing conferences - I usually do so for free
- journalists are asked to chair conferences precisely because we can be objective, impartial referees

I am asking you to display on your page, prominently, a correction to your assertion that I was paid to chair part of this symposium, and acknowledgment that climate change was not its main focus.

In accordance with his wishes, I have printed his remarks prominently and made it a central part of the blog. I am happy to publicise his response to my story and make sure that Biased BBC readers are aware of it. And I accept his assertion unreservedly that he was not paid to chair this conference, and that, on this occasion, climate change was not the main focus. 

At least now we know that Richard is above reproach; it's perhaps a shame that other BBC presenters are not so candid in the terms of their acceptance of speaker roles, and that they freely advertise their services on the web at 10K a pop.