BBC News website amends delayed post article headline following complaint

Following two complaints the BBC amends an inaccurate headline.

Readers may recall that on August 15th the BBC News website published an article headlined “Palestinian mail blocked by Israel arrives eight years late” which – as noted here at the time – failed to provide readers with the full story.

Original headline

“As we see, readers were by no means provided with the full background to this story (not least the relevant issue of the refusal by Arab countries to use the existing system) and the BBC’s report amplified inaccurate claims from Palestinian Authority Communications Minister regarding the 2016 memorandum of understanding which mistakenly led audiences to believe that Israel is exclusively to blame for the fact that the delivery of items including “even a wheelchair” was delayed.”

Five days after the report’s initial appearance, the BBC News website added a paragraph and a footnote:

“Update 20 August 2018: The article has been updated to make reference to the 2008 postal agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.”

Meanwhile, Mr Stephen Franklin had submitted a complaint concerning the inaccurate claim in the report’s headline that Israel had “blocked” Palestinian mail. The initial response to that complaint, received on August 22nd, stated:

Mr Franklin submitted a second complaint, pointing out that the arrangements concerning postal services to the Palestinian Authority were not “imposed” but had actually been agreed within the framework of the Oslo Accords and that the delayed mail was held in Jordan rather than Israel.

Over a month later, on September 26th, Mr Franklin received another response.

The re-headlined article now carries two footnotes:

Amended headline

Obviously the continuing absence of a dedicated corrections page on the BBC News website means that those who read the original version this article on August 15th remain unaware of the significant changes subsequently made.

 

 

 

 

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