A Syrian BBC journalist has resigned after eight years over claims of “biased” reporting by the British media outlet towards her home country.
Dima Izzedin said her decision was based on BBC Arabic’s editorial stance towards her war-torn country of birth
“Today I was supposed to go back to the BBC screen after an absence of a year but I will no longer go back,” she wrote on Facebook, according to the New Arab news site.
The standards adopted by this great institution are supposed to make it first class in media, but this is not the case,” she added.
Izzedin said she was grateful for her experiences, but questioned the broadcaster’s standards for impartiality.
“Unfortunately, these standards are no longer applied as it should be …. Today I leave it, as it is no longer like me nor am I like it. The news on my wounded homeland departed us.”
Supporters of Syrian rebels have accused the BBC of sympathising with the Assad regime.
Anti-Assad activists have claimed that Damascus-based BBC Arabic Syria correspondent Assaf Aboud of “propaganda” for reporting from the capital, and of not being able to report truthfully or impartially under the control of Assad, the New Arab reported.
The BBC has also been accused of biased coverage on the Israel-Palestine conflict by pro-Palestine activists.
Most famous of the critics was the late Labour politician Tony Benn who criticised the BBC for violating its principles by refusing to broadcast a humanitarian appeal for Gaza following the 2008 war.
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