The BBC has come under sustained criticism following reports that its justification for cancelling a documentary about health workers in Gaza — citing "perceived partiality" — was misleading.
According to The Observer, the broadcaster dropped Gaza: Doctors Under Attack seven weeks before releasing a public statement claiming concerns over impartiality.
At the time of the announcement, the BBC was reportedly considering airing only three short clips from the film.
The documentary, produced by journalists Ramita Navai and Ben de Pear and made by Basement Films, documents the experiences of frontline Palestinian medics in Gaza amid Israel's attacks on hospitals and clinics.
After repeated delays, the BBC eventually pulled the full-length film, and it was later aired by Channel 4.
Navai and de Pear were quoted by The Observer as saying that the delays were initially attributed to an internal investigation into another programme, How to Survive a Warzone, that faced severe pro-Israel pressure.
The BBC said that airing the Gaza film might give the impression of bias, stating: "We have come to the conclusion that broadcasting this material risked creating a perception of partiality that would not meet the high standards that the public rightly expect of the BBC."
However, the filmmakers have strongly disputed this, revealing that the film had already been dropped long before the official statement.
"To be clear, what it was abandoning by this point was three one-minute clips," they said.
The BBC also reportedly attempted to downgrade Navai’s role from correspondent to "contributor or third-party reporter".
According to the filmmakers, this decision followed concerns that some of Navai’s social media posts were "one-sided" — including retweets highlighting the deaths and suffering of Palestinians.
The BBC did not deny concerns over Navai’s online activity, stating that it had "concerns about some of Ms Navai’s social media".
The claims come after de Pear accused the BBC of trying to silence the filmmakers and others over its decision last week.
In a LinkedIn post, he said: "I rejected and refused to sign the double gagging clause the BBC bosses tried multiple times to get me to sign. Not only could we have been sued for saying the BBC refused to air the film- palpably and provably true- but also if any other company had said it, the BBC could sue us."
He added: “Reader, I didn’t sign it.”
Speaking publicly at a media conference in Sheffield, de Pear criticised BBC Director-General Tim Davie, claiming editorial decisions were made at the top level without proper journalistic oversight.
“All the decisions about our film were not taken by journalists- they were taken by Tim Davie. He is just a PR person... not capable of making editorial decisions,” he said.
The BBC has yet to respond to the latest claims.