BBC Earth article contravenes style guide with inaccurate terminology

The BBC Academy’s style guide titled “Israel and the Palestinians” makes it amply clear to BBC journalists that they should not portray the PA controlled territories as a state called Palestine.

Style Guide Palestine

Nevertheless, readers of a BBC Earth article titled “Earth’s saltiest place makes the Dead Sea look like tapwater” by Ella Davies which was promoted on the BBC News website’s Middle East page on August 10th were told that the Dead Sea lies on the border of a country called Palestine.

Dead Sea art BBC Earth

The region portrayed by Davies as ‘the border of Palestine’ is in fact defined as Area C by the Oslo Accords and its final status is subject to negotiation between Israel and the PLO. Clearly a correction to that inaccurate terminology is necessary in order to prevent audiences from being misled.

Related Articles:

Final status negotiations on Area C passé for BBC’s Kevin Connolly

Resources:

BBC Earth on Twitter

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