By IRNA,
London : The Islamic Human Rights Commission on Tuesday expressed deep concern over promoting US foreign policy bias by the BBC and the other mainstream media in coverage of events in Bahrain, Iran and Yemen.
Singling out the BBC, CNN and Fox News, the London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission said that ‘the mainstream media need to be wary of peddling the US political agenda in reporting.’
‘IHRC is deeply concerned over the reporting of such news agencies as the BBC, CNN and Fox News. While the American channels may well have little choice but to promote US Foreign policy bias as fact and political analysis, there is little reason for the BBC to become stooges to this agenda,’ IHRC Chairman Massoud Shadjareh said in a statement.
‘On yesterday’s “Day of Rage” announced well in advance by Bahraini activists, the BBC English News website carried not a single story of the demonstrations around the kingdom, in which thousands participated, were teargassed by police and eventually shot at with both rubber bullets and reportedly live rounds, resulting in at least 16 deaths. The BBC ran as its second main Middle East story, hundreds of protestors in Tehran being teargassed by police. This same story headlined the site as the main story this morning, while Bahrain was not mentioned, despite police shooting at members of a funeral procession, killing one. The funeral was for a protestor who had been killed on Monday,’ the statement said.
‘Meanwhile, the BBC website described anti-regime protests in Yemen as ‘turning ugly’ alleging that protestors may have been responsible for the outbreak of violence when confronted by ‘pro-regime’ supporters. Elsewhere in its commentary on a Tehran fight, the beating up by protestors of a man ‘thought to be working for the police’ went without condemnation,’ Shadjareh said.
“It is important that the media take a step back from the various political agendas at play in the events underway in the Middle East. Every pro and anti-regime and government demonstration needs to be reported and placed in context.’
He derided the BBC and the American TV channels for failure to respect professional responsibility to consider accuracy and impartiality.
“A free media is one that attempts to report and contextualise, not report to propagandise,” the IHRC chairman said.