Little trust in the BBC

Biased reports broadcast on the BBC and other international media outlets about Bahrain during the unrest are still hurting companies in the kingdom, writes Stan Szecowka.

One leading businessman told GulfWeekly that recruiting top talent was proving challenging because of the ill-founded coverage, which British Broadcasting Company executives now admit was below standard.

“Banking is a global industry and top talent often moves around,” a senior executive, who asked not to be named, said. “Unfortunately those TV and radio news reports made an impression and are still influencing decisions.

“You can spend years spreading the message that Bahrain is business friendly and a fabulous place to work and raise your family but it can be damaged in a few seconds of poor journalism.”

BBC executives have admitted making major errors in its coverage of Bahrain’s unrest. The organisation initially underplayed the sectarian aspect of the conflict and did not adequately convey the viewpoint of supporters of the monarchy, says a BBC Trust report.

Edward Mortimer, a journalist and former director of communications for United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan, reviewed the corporation’s coverage of the Arab Spring.

Speaking at a briefing for journalists, he said the BBC had made some mistakes in its reporting of Bahrain and other countries, where he said coverage was ‘rather sporadic, and perhaps insufficient’. The once highly-respected broadcast company also failed to mention attempts by Crown Prince His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa to establish dialogue with the opposition.

Minister of State for Information Affairs, Sameera Ebrahim bin Rajab, told GulfWeekly: “We had no doubt that BBC’s media coverage of Bahrain lacked objectivity, realism and neutrality – that is what we have said repeatedly since February 14, 2011.

“The BBC’s coverage, including news pieces about incidents in Bahrain was based on one side’s narration – the extremists and saboteurs side that has damaged Bahraini society –  starting with a sectarian split which is a continuous bleeding.

“We used to watch and listen to what was presented on BBC’s TV and radio channels and can only express our sadness and surprise about its unprofessional performance.

“It did not verify the credibility of what it was broadcasting and it made the BBC appear as if it stood alongside sectarian groups working on engulfing the kingdom into civil war.

“It appears that BBC entered a competition with other international media channels for a ‘scoop’ without being aware that it was falling into a trap of highlighting lies published on social networks, or delivered by groups claiming to represent human rights when in fact they were so far away from that concept.

“One year after the incidents in Bahrain, the BBC Trust Report offers evidence of what we said at the time.

“The Bahraini population did not expect to experience such biased media coverage or the amount of unfairness and lies presented.

 “Confidence has been broken but we hope to start a new relationship with the BBC based on media credibility and objectivity.”

Meanwhile, the Bahrain Economic Development Board continues to work tirelessly to win friends and influence people abroad and attract investment and the Crown Prince recently returned from a successful trip to India.

Expats are also being urged to spread a positive message to friends, family members and business acquaintances over the summer holidays when they return home.

Easier said than done, it appears. “It was really hard to try and put the other side of the story to people that I knew because they all felt that they had the ‘facts’ from the news coverage,” said UK artist Irena Boobyer, who has a brother working in Bahrain.

Alison Hastings, chair of the BBC Trust’s editorial standards committee, said it was keen to see if improvements can be made. She said: “These would be both in the scope of coverage to provide a fuller picture of events, and in providing better context for audiences. We’ll ask the director of news to report back to us with an update in the autumn.”