BBC chief assails U.S. war coverage
U.S. broadcasters’ coverage of the Iraq war was so unquestioningly patriotic and so lacking in impartiality that it threatened the credibility of America’s electronic media, the head of the BBC says.
BBC Director General Greg Dyke was particularly critical of Fox News Channel, owned by Rupert Murdoch, and Clear Channel Communications Inc., the largest operator of radio stations in the United States.
“Personally, I was shocked while in the United States by how unquestioning the broadcast news media was during this war,” Dyke said in a speech at a University of London conference. “If Iraq proved anything, it was that the BBC cannot afford to mix patriotism and journalism. This is happening in the United States and, if it continues, will undermine the credibility of the U.S. electronic news media.”
Dyke defended the BBC against accusations -- some from the British government -- that it had been soft on Saddam Hussein’s government.
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