EXCLUSIVE – Tom Tugendhat has said the BBC must rapidly improve its coverage of the major news event.
Tom Tugendhat has blasted the BBC’s coverage (Image: Getty)
Top Tory Tom Tugendhat has condemned the BBC’s coverage of the ongoing Iran protests, warning the corporation that it is losing its reputation for reliability. The outbreak of mass protests across Iran, which have seen brave calls for the death of the Ayatollah by those out on the street, is one of the most seismic events in the Middle East in recent years.
It could also have huge implications for Britain’s security and energy crisis if the authoritarian regime were to topple. However, the BBC has come under sustained fire over the past couple of days due to its low-quality coverage, which has suppressed the protests’ prominence on its websites and appeared to be used as further opportunity to attack Israel. The broadcaster’s fact-checking ‘Verify’ service also branded the uprising a “cost of living protest”, and has appeared to rely heavily on official pro-Ayatollah press releases from the Iranian government.
The BBC is under fire for suppressing prominence of the protests (Image: Getty)
Top Tory Tom Tugendhat has now told the Daily Express that the BBC must rapidly improve its coverage of the major world news event if it wants to cling on to its reputation as a reliable news provider.
The former security minister blasted: “Iranians are being persecuted, beaten, jailed and killed for standing up to the Ayatollah’s brutal regime.
“This is a major global event but our national broadcaster is responding by criticising Israel and quoting the dictatorship. They find it hard to get the facts out but then undermine those protesting for freedom.
“If the BBC wants to maintain its reputation as a serious voice on geopolitical issues, then they need to start behaving like one.”
In one post by the corporation yesterday, the Verify and Persian teams published an analysis of “AI-manipulated” images of the protest.
The blog post saw the uprising branded a “cost-of-living protest”, and appeared to crowbar in accusations against Israel for publishing AI-edited footage via a foreign ministry Persian-language account on X.
John Cleese also condemned the BBC’s coverage (Image: Getty)
His criticism was echoed by BBC legend John Cleese, who slammed: “I have just looked at the BBC News website. Not a mention of Iran. Multiple sackings, please.”
Yesterday the Israeli embassy accused the BBC of ignoring the Iranian uprising while continuing its “obsession” with Gaza.
Alex Gandler, the embassy’s spokesman, condemned the broadcaster’s “near-total silence” on the bulletins about the protests.
“The scale of BBC coverage devoted to Gaza, including over the past few days, vastly exceeds that given to wars and humanitarian crises elsewhere in the world.
“At the same time, the near-total silence on Iran is striking. A broadcaster that claims global impartiality cannot obsess over one theatre of conflict while largely ignoring the regime that destabilises the entire region.”
He was responding to a tweet by BBC veteran John Simpson, who defended the broadcaster’s thin coverage of the uprising on the basis it is difficult to get reporters on the ground.
A BBC spokesman insisted: “We have been covering the protests in Iran daily across all of our platforms, including our main news bulletins, in English and via BBC News Persian.”
