ID :
33582
Tue, 12/02/2008 - 17:49
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/33582
The shortlink copeid
BBC flayed for not terming Mumbai gunmen as `terrorists`
London, December 2 (PTI) A group of legislators of UK's Labour party has criticised the BBC for not referring to the Mumbai attackers as "terrorists" in its news bulletins but the UK-based news organisation has defended the practice.
The BBC chooses to call such attackers as "militants" or
"bombers".
Criticising the news channel, Stephen Pound, chairman of the Labour Friends of India, said: "This is the worst sort of mealy mouthed posturing. It is desperation to avoid causing offence which ultimately causes more offence to everyone. The terrorist term is universal.
"The result is innocent victims slaughtered in
restaurants by men brandishing machine guns. They are
terrorists and the BBC should call them that," Stephen said
describing the attacks in Mumbai where around 200 people,
including foreigners, were killed last week.
However, a BBC spokesman said: "This is nothing to do
with political correctness. We are not calling them freedom
fighters. We are calling them 'bombers' or 'militants'.
"The fact is terrorist does not have a universal meaning.
It translates as freedom fighters in certain languages. We are
not alone in not calling them terrorists."
"The word 'terrorist' is not banned from the BBC. BBC
editorial guidelines are advisory but editors will exercise
their own judgement on a case by case basis. The guidelines
are aimed to support the BBC's journalism not only in the UK
but around the world and to cover a wide spectrum of global
and political scenarios.
"They advise that we should report acts of terror
quickly, accurately, fully and responsibly but that we should
take care in the use of language that we use in our own
scripts and reports. No one who has followed the BBC coverage
of the attacks in Mumbai could be in any doubt of the full
horror of last week's atrocity," he said.
The BBC, however, reported other people describing the
Mumbai attackers as 'terrorists'.
"We are implementing the same guidelines as a number of
other major media organisations who also do not use the word
'terrorist'. The BBC always reports other people using the
word, such as politicians or police chiefs," he added. PTI
The BBC chooses to call such attackers as "militants" or
"bombers".
Criticising the news channel, Stephen Pound, chairman of the Labour Friends of India, said: "This is the worst sort of mealy mouthed posturing. It is desperation to avoid causing offence which ultimately causes more offence to everyone. The terrorist term is universal.
"The result is innocent victims slaughtered in
restaurants by men brandishing machine guns. They are
terrorists and the BBC should call them that," Stephen said
describing the attacks in Mumbai where around 200 people,
including foreigners, were killed last week.
However, a BBC spokesman said: "This is nothing to do
with political correctness. We are not calling them freedom
fighters. We are calling them 'bombers' or 'militants'.
"The fact is terrorist does not have a universal meaning.
It translates as freedom fighters in certain languages. We are
not alone in not calling them terrorists."
"The word 'terrorist' is not banned from the BBC. BBC
editorial guidelines are advisory but editors will exercise
their own judgement on a case by case basis. The guidelines
are aimed to support the BBC's journalism not only in the UK
but around the world and to cover a wide spectrum of global
and political scenarios.
"They advise that we should report acts of terror
quickly, accurately, fully and responsibly but that we should
take care in the use of language that we use in our own
scripts and reports. No one who has followed the BBC coverage
of the attacks in Mumbai could be in any doubt of the full
horror of last week's atrocity," he said.
The BBC, however, reported other people describing the
Mumbai attackers as 'terrorists'.
"We are implementing the same guidelines as a number of
other major media organisations who also do not use the word
'terrorist'. The BBC always reports other people using the
word, such as politicians or police chiefs," he added. PTI
