Snoshi
01-28-2009, 10:33 AM
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog has called off an interview scheduled with the BBC following the corporation's decision not to air an aid appeal for Gaza.
IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei told the British daily Guardian that the company's decision not to air the video "violates the rules of basic human decency which are there to help vulnerable people, irrespective of who is right or wrong."
The BBC said that it "regretted" the cancellation.
Sky News joined that BBC in announcing that it will not broadcast the charity appeal for Gaza, while three other networks aired the video.
Mark Thompson, director-general of the BBC, said the question of impartiality made it impossible for the network to broadcast the appeal.
"We are passionate about defending the BBC impartiality and we worry, with it being such a political and emotive story, about being seen to endorse something that could give people the impression we were backing one side," he said.
A parliamentary motion urging the BBC to screen the appeal signed by some 60 MPs was tabled in Parliament on Monday and a few dozen protesters stormed the BBC's offices in Glasgow on Sunday night.
On Tuesday, the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), the umbrella group of 13 aid agencies that sponsored the appeal, said that the British public had already raised over £1 million in humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Guardian reported that the number of complaints sent to the BBC over its decision stood at more than 21,000, with only a mere 380 expressing support of the corporation's decision.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233050194429&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei told the British daily Guardian that the company's decision not to air the video "violates the rules of basic human decency which are there to help vulnerable people, irrespective of who is right or wrong."
The BBC said that it "regretted" the cancellation.
Sky News joined that BBC in announcing that it will not broadcast the charity appeal for Gaza, while three other networks aired the video.
Mark Thompson, director-general of the BBC, said the question of impartiality made it impossible for the network to broadcast the appeal.
"We are passionate about defending the BBC impartiality and we worry, with it being such a political and emotive story, about being seen to endorse something that could give people the impression we were backing one side," he said.
A parliamentary motion urging the BBC to screen the appeal signed by some 60 MPs was tabled in Parliament on Monday and a few dozen protesters stormed the BBC's offices in Glasgow on Sunday night.
On Tuesday, the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), the umbrella group of 13 aid agencies that sponsored the appeal, said that the British public had already raised over £1 million in humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Guardian reported that the number of complaints sent to the BBC over its decision stood at more than 21,000, with only a mere 380 expressing support of the corporation's decision.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233050194429&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull