BBC News CEO Deborah Turness: Critics Of Israel-Gaza Output Are Stuck In Online Echo Chambers
deadline.comBBC News CEO Deborah Turness has accused critics of the British broadcaster’s Israel-Gaza conflict coverage of being stuck in social media bubbles.
In a blog post marking the anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 atrocities, Turness appeared to hit back at a barrage of complaints from the UK’s Jewish community about perceived anti-Israel bias.
Turness acknowledged that the BBC has made mistakes and said she will always listen to the corporation’s “harshest critics,” but she was clear that impartiality means audiences will be served reporting that challenges their worldview. “If there is one thing we have learned more than any other in the past year, it’s that such is the depth of the polarisation in this war, so many have come to see impartial reporting as being somehow against them, because it does not solely reflect their view of the conflict,” Turness wrote. “Much of this is perhaps explained by social media algorithms and echo chambers that serve consumers more of what they already ‘like.’ People mostly follow people whose opinions they agree with, and as more news providers put their journalism behind paywalls, consumers increasingly subscribe to media brands that reflect their own worldview.
They are increasingly living in an information ecosystem that surrounds them with their own views and opinions. “But BBC News does not and cannot reflect any single world view.
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