Jewish Whistleblower Danny Cohen Says Antisemitism Normalized at BBC after October 7

Photo Credit: Steve Jurvetson

A BBC Studio, February 17, 2022.

BBC executive Danny Cohen, the former Director of BBC Television and the former Controller of BBC One, has reported that antisemitism at the BBC has become “normalized,” with the broadcaster facing allegations of repeatedly failing to address claims of antisemitic behavior and attitudes within its ranks.

Cohen criticized the broadcaster for its reporting on the Israel-Hamas conflict, alleging that its coverage has carried anti-Israeli overtones and contributed to a growing sense of insecurity among Jewish communities in the UK.

In a report examining recent BBC coverage, Cohen highlighted several incidents he described as troubling lapses in editorial judgment. Among them was the decision to air interviews with Mohammed Marandi, an Iranian academic and former member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, despite the BBC previously upholding complaints about his earlier appearances.

In a prior interview, Mr. Marandi accused Israel of genocide and “Ethno-supremacism,” prompting the broadcaster to acknowledge a failure in maintaining its editorial standards. Nevertheless, Marandi has since appeared on the network twice more.

‘They make mistakes in their reporting that they do not correct…we’ve got BBC bosses not willing to accept that there is a problem.’

Former BBC executive Danny Cohen discusses the BBC’s ‘ignorance’ when it comes to their ‘biased’ middle east coverage. pic.twitter.com/S1Yp4HLjNt

— GB News (@GBNEWS) September 30, 2024

The Cohen report also criticized the BBC for devoting 40 minutes to a live broadcast of a speech by Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and for featuring a guest who has repeatedly praised acts of violence against Jewish people. These editorial choices, Cohen argued, demonstrate a pattern of failing to adequately vet contributors and content, raising concerns about the impact on public perceptions and the safety of Jewish communities.

Jewish BBC staff members said they had been forced to endure antisemitic and anti-Israeli comments on a near-daily basis, to avoid being dismissed by their managers. Writing anonymously for The Telegraph, a former BBC employee alleged that antisemitism had long been present within the newsrooms of Britain’s public broadcaster and remains pervasive today, exacerbated by the fallout from the October 7 Hamas attacks.

“Antisemitism exists in the newsrooms of Britain’s public service broadcaster. It has done for years, and it is alive and well today, refueled by the events of Oct. 7 and after,” the author wrote. “I have experienced it firsthand, too much, in my career at the corporation, both before and since the Hamas attacks.”

These allegations follow comments by Jay Rayner, who recently resigned as The Observer’s restaurant critic, accusing its sister publication, The Guardian, of harboring antisemites and criticizing its editor for failing to confront them. The Guardian responded by stating that it takes such allegations seriously and maintains a zero-tolerance policy on antisemitism.

In his article for The Telegraph, “BBC newsroom is ‘out of control’ says former director of television in report on antisemitic bias,” Danny Cohen argued that “Very serious problems of bias continue in the BBC’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war,” adding, “The scale and consistency of the issues suggests that the BBC newsroom is out of control. It is very hard to otherwise understand why the corporation continues to make so many errors. The BBC should understand that the bias in their reporting is contributing to an atmosphere in this country in which many Jewish people feel unsafe.”