Sky joins BBC, refuses to air Gaza aid appeal

I fail to see how the ad is biased. It is not accusing anyone, it is not political - it is simply an appeal for victims of a conflict.
That they would NOT screen it suggests bias..

".....would compromise impartiality and journalistic duty to offer fair and balanced reporting on the events in Gaza."

Now since when was mainstream news fair and balanced? :|

Here is the clip:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/video/2009/jan/26/dec-gaza-appeal

It is about humanitarian aid for a people that are suffering. The BBC and Sky´s decision is nothing short of shocking.

Why is Israel not being made to pay for the damage with all the money America gives them?

On the Today show this morning, John Humphreys gave his boss Mark Thompson, the Director General of the BBC, a grilling about the BBC refusing to air the appeal.

Thompson feels it's better for the BBC to raise awarness and report on what's going on within the context of balanced journalistic programmes.

From the sounds of things, Humphreys disagrees.

Surely the big question here is what the ultimate message of the broadcast is?

If it in anyway hints at any cause of the crisis, or tries to place blame, then yes, the BBC has a duty to remain impartial and not broadcast.

If, on the other hand, the appeal comes from a purely humanitarian viewpoint, I don't see how they can object. If people are dying, we shouldn't care why or at whose hand, we should want to help. Hopefully the broadcast will come from that angle, and the political machinations behind it all should become irrelevant.

I suppose I'll just have to wait and see the broadcast on the other channels later on!

A public appeal is not news, it would be a political broadcast. If they were to show it as a stand alone piece that wasn't part of the news, like when you have a party political broadcast it could be different.

ALSO, even if not shown as part of the news, ITV isn't quite as constrained as the BBC is paid for by the public through TV license and so has to remain somewhat impartial, as it is a public network, where as ITV is paid for by its advertisers as a commercial network. As for Sky, although they generate revenue through advertising, they also have to remain somewhat impartial as their viewers pay a subscription for their channels. To keep impartiality they would surely have to broadcast something speaking on behalf of the Israeli government/military as well.