Why does the BBC refer to dead terrorists as 'journalists'?

[EnoughIsEnoughSortThisOut]

https://www.spiked-online.com/2026/10/01/why-does-the-bbc-refer-to-dead-terrorists-as-journalists/

Saw this online.

10 supposedly 'innocent' journalists were Hamas terrorists.

The joke us on the stupid westerners who lap up the lies.

https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/bbc-journalists-hamas-bias-5Hjdj9C_2/

"Most of the reports identifying the individuals as journalists appeared on BBC Arabic. According to a report published Saturday by the Telegraph, 10 of the 53 were also described as journalists on the English-language BBC News website, while the remaining 43 were identified as journalists only by BBC Arabic.
The BBC said it was now reviewing the inclusion of the individuals in its coverage.

Protest against the BBC | Photo: Getty Images
According to the report, many of those described as journalists were pictured on social media wearing combat fatigues and carrying weapons. In some cases, they were also seen wearing headbands associated with terrorist organizations.
Of the 53 names, 12 were removed from the list of journalists killed maintained by the Committee to Protect Journalists, a US-based organization that advocates for journalists working in conflict zones. CPJ determined that the individuals either did not qualify as "journalists or media workers" or had participated in combat.
One was Abdullah Darwish, whom BBC Arabic described as a cameraman for Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV. He was removed from CPJ's list after evidence emerged that he had participated in the Oct. 7 attack as a member of Hamas' Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. He was photographed wearing the green headband associated with the organization. Darwish was killed in a targeted airstrike in December 2023.
Another was Yacoup al-Borsh, whom BBC Arabic described as the executive director of Namaa Radio. He was removed from CPJ's list after being identified as a member of Hamas' Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, which featured him on its page commemorating its "martyrs.""

🤔

Because it suits their narrative

They are not going to change at this point

Don't understand why you are even bothering to ask the question

BBC have spent years employing "journalists" and staff that previously worked for some of the most dodgy media outlets and organisations around. Couldn't make the BBC neutral or trustworthy at this point even if they wanted to try and change.

The BBC has proved in the Gaza war that it has an anti Israel bias.

It has been obvious from the start in the way they present the news. For example not even referring to known Hamas militants as terrorists. Despite the fact Hamas are proscribed as a terrorist organization under the UK's Terrorism Act.

But what can you do? None of the media sources are impartial.

If the BBC sent their journalists to Israel to receive proper Hasbara training then I'm sure all the people who support Israel's crimes against humanity would then view the reporting as unbiased.

Offensive comment. No one on this board has suggested they want BBC journalists to receive “Hasbara training”.

Media bias is so common as to be normal. It’s just not really acceptable from the BBC because of the way they are funded and the way they claim to be impartial.

Because the long march through that particular institution is all but complete. They are now an un trusted source by any objective thinker.

As an aside they cant even be trusted to prvide an accurate weather forecast or or even report the weather accurately where I live.

Sadly I agree with you that they are no longer the trusted source I once believed them to be. I still read/watch the BBC but no longer assume them to be neutral in anything they report.

So on the story of the killing of the 15 emergency workers that Israel lied about when they said they were acting suspiciously with no lights on, what were the BBC to do to seem more 'unbiased', in the eyes of Israel supporters. I suppose they could have just buried the story and not reported on it, like the IDF tried to do with the dead emergency workers and their vehicles. Would that be unbiased.

People aren’t forming their views about Gaza simply because of one BBC description.The much bigger issue is the reality people are seeing: the enormous destruction, civilian deaths, restrictions on humanitarian aid and medical supplies, and the fact that independent foreign journalists have been denied access to Gaza

Those are substantive issues — not simply a question about whether the BBC used the word “journalist” to describe particular individuals.

There is no point picking particular stories and putting words into the mouth of Israel supporters re those stories - in this case that the BBC should have buried the story about the emergency workers. No one suggested the BBC should have buried that story to be "unbiased".

You don't come across as a rational debater when you just make stuff up that no one said! First about Hasbara training, now this.

@Twiglets1, "There is no point picking particular stories". Then why are people banging on about the BBC not realising that 53 journalists had ties to militant groups and so should not be included in the figures of deceased journalists as evidence that the BBC is biased against Israel. Do you feel the Telegraph is unbiased.

Well of course they had ties to these militant groups, they were doing their job as journalists trying to get information on the human rights crisis going on in Gaza that the western media refuse to touch.

Because that is evidence of BBC bias in the way they reported these men as just journalists, based on what Hamas said. Why act as though Hamas are reputable sources of information, they aren't.

I'm talking about you picking particular stories to accuse Mumsnetters of saying things they never said. About how they want BBC journalist to receive Hasbara training etc.

As for the Telegraph being unbiased, no I don't claim that. I've said several times that I think all media sources are biased. The Telegraph has a right wing bias but then again, they don't claim to be neutral like the BBC does.

The BBC is a woke, leftist cult.

If the BBC knew that those journalists had links to a militant group and buried that part of the story I would agree that is bias. If they did not know, which is what they are declaring, that is not a sign of bias. Like most news outlets, the BBC are simply doing their best to report on the situation while Israel imposes a total media blackout by not allowing international journalists in to actually report themselves.

Any comment on the "journalists" who were actually Hamas members 🤔

Yes if you read my subsequent posts.

Obviously you don't want to talk about the "journalists" who were Hamas members. Inconvenient truth so just ignore it. 🙄

You could always start threads about your preferred topic?

The BBC have made the decision to accept Hamas information as trustworthy and seem more inclined to put the words “this has not been independently verified” on what the IDF say than what Hamas say. Actually they should put the disclaimer on everything Hamas say because they are a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK.

They also choose not to refer to Hamas as terrorists which gives their words a legitimacy they do not deserve.

There are indeed.

However calling dead terrorists "journalists" helps no one.

The whole situation is Gaza is dire and Hamas are still there so no rebuilding happening. Hamas must really not want their people to prosper. It's going to take years to rebuild and with a terrorist group 'running' or should I say ruining the place, its delaying rebuilding.

Anyway the thread. I don't imagine many are surprised that the BBC thought every journalist that died was innocent. Why would Hamas pretend to be journalists 🤔

They had much more than 'ties' one of the journalists took part in October 7th. He was a Hamas terrorist.

Who else are they supposed to listen to. Israel have been proved to lie on too many occasions to be classed as viable. As I said, they can't send in their own journalists to report as Israel obviously doesn't want the world to actually know what is going on. If Israel are "the most moral army in the world" as they keep trying to claim, why the unprecedented media blackout. Surely international journalists would help their cause. I am sure that the atrocities we know about are only the tip of the iceberg.

Re the BBC being biased another organization found the opposite to being pro Palestine https://cfmm.org.uk/resource/bbc-on-gaza-israel-one-story-double-standards/

Now this is a group that investigates Muslim narratives in the media so they obviously have a bias but it illustrates how each side can take the same information and see different aspects.

As regards the OP, without a doubt there would be some truth regarding the link but as always where Israel are releasing their "intelligence" a certain level of scepticism should be applied.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/15/israeli-military-unit-reportedly-tasked-with-linking-journalists-in-gaza-to-hamas