Radio reporter fails to test contributor on extremism
In no part of this interview did the interviewer challenge any of the claims made by the contributor, despite the fact that he expressed a range of contentious views. She did not probe his claim that Muslims who arrive on radical websites, do so accidentally; she did not question his view that use of extremist websites is exceptional; and finally, she did not challenge his claim that foreign policy, particularly regarding Israel, is the chief cause of terrorism in the UK. As a result, the item falls short of the BBC's requirement to rigorously test contributors.
AREA OF CONCERN: Impartiality
“We must rigorously test contributors expressing contentious views during an interview whilst giving them a fair chance to set out their full response to our questions.”
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Transcript of BBC Radio 4 The World Tonight broadcast
The World tonight, Rita Chakrabarti, 17 January 2008
Rita Chakrabarti: The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, today opened up another front on the government’s fight against terror: the internet. Ms Smith said the government would work with internet service providers to remove Al-Qaeda and extremist websites, which can attract susceptible young people. Recent cases, she said, suggested the internet was also being used by extremists to spread messages and to plan terror attacks. More details of just how the government plans to control the internet remains sketchy, the intention is clear. Ministers want a new push to try and tackle radicalisation among young British Muslims. Mohammed Shafiq is a spokesman for the Ramadhan Foundation, a Muslim youth organisation. I asked him whether he thought extremist websites really did play a part in radicalising some young people.
Mohammed Shafiq: The mosque and the normal, mainstream institutions that provide education around faith, are not, not living up to the standards that are expected by these youngsters. So these youngsters are then having to go to the internet, which is very popular amongst young people, to get their education on Islam and other matters. And it’s there where they are prone to extreme elements who want to brainwash these people into thinking that violence is the solution to their problems.
RC: So initially, these young people’s interest might be perfectly innocent?
MS: Yes, many of the time it’s been just to check out what’s happening on the internet, I mean we’ve all got curious minds and from time to time, people do go into these sort of things. But the government has to deal with the double standards in UK foreign policy. For as long as they refuse to accept what they do in Iraq, what they refused to do in Lebanon and Palestine, we won’t be able to eradicate terrorism. I’m not justifying it, I’m not legitimising terrorism, absolutely not, but you have to deal with the recruiting sergeant.
RC: We’ll come back to foreign policy in just a moment, but just on the subject of websites, how widespread would you say their use is in this country?
MS: I would say it’s a very small minority of people accessing a small minority of websites.
RC: Do you think the measures that they’ve announced against the extremist websites will be effective?
MS: Websites that are hosted in this country can be closed already and I don’t think there are many extremist websites hosted by, here in the UK. Websites that are hosted round the world, we don’t have any legal jurisdiction in banning a website that is hosted in Lebanon or a website that’s hosted in Cuba or Australia or somewhere like that so it’s very difficult to discern how practically the government will be able to deal with this issue and that’s part of the problem, Rita, with the government’s announcement today. It’s very much a lot of rhetoric, a lot of headline-grabbing initiatives, but when it comes to substance and actual positive action they can take, there is none.
RC: You mentioned foreign policy, and this comes up again and again; what is it that the government can say, short of changing its foreign policy, it’s not going to make any difference is it?
MS: It’s gotta recognise that when they participate in illegal war in Iraq, when the Israeli government bombard Lebanon, in which a thousand innocent people lose their lives, many of them children, and the government, the British government refuses to condemn the acts of the aggression of Israel, when we see Security Council resolutions violated by Iraq we send the troops in, or security resolutions violated by Israel, nothing happens. So, we’ve got to see a more juster [sic], more fairer foreign policy, not preferential treatment for anybody, but a fairer, just policy, one rule for all countries and when we see that, when people see that the government is listening to them, the government is seriously listening and engaging with right people then we’ll start seeing action.
RC: Mohammed Shafiq, who works for a Muslim youth organisation.