Patrick Christys was left furious with a former BBC producer who admitted on GB News he had not read the report he was invited on to discuss.
The report concerns the broadcaster’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, and accuses them of breaching their own guidelines around 1,500 times.
The BBC has been accused of bias as a result, but the broadcaster has denied such claims.
Appearing on GB News to defend the broadcaster was John Mair, but he admitted to not doing his research in full.
Patrick Christys questioned why Mair did not read the report
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“I want you to talk about whether the BBC has been institutionally biased against Israel”, said Patrick as Mair pressed on with his point about the war.
“The BBC has been very objective. We are journalists and we’re not allowed on the frontline, what are Israel playing at?
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The Asserson Report found over 1,500 examples of the BBC breaching its own editorial guidelines Asserson “I haven’t read the report”, he then admitted, much to Patrick’s annoyance.
“Thanks for coming on then, John. You’ve had all day to read it.”
Journalist Angela Epstein then waded in on the discussion to criticise Mair, prompting the ex-producer to question her on whether she has done so.
“The report shows 1,500 breaches of editorial guidelines and also shows there is no mechanism on how neutrality can be approached at the BBC”, she said.
“I am very surprised that someone who worked at the BBC will come on this programme to state their position without bothering to read the evidence.
“I would also say the author of this report, Trevor Asserson, he’s very highly respected and he has nothing to gain by falsifying.”
“This is a biased report”, Mair hit back, before Patrick asked how he can know this is the case given he had not read it.
“This is a silent war, it’s an absolute nonsense what the Israelis are doing.”
“You’ve openly said you haven’t read this report but you’ve come to all sorts of conclusions”, said Patrick.
“We’re going to have to knock it on the head. I think it’s massively arrogant. It’s quite difficult to know who to agree with when one side of this debate is not engaged.”