Michael Palin show criticised over statements about Balkans warMichael Palin's New Europe has been rapped by the BBC Trust's editorial standards committee over its portrayal of the role of Serbia in the Balkan conflict in the 1990s.
Palin's most recent travelogue was "political commentary rather than a travel series" and gave an inaccurate account of the war in the 1990s Balkan conflict, according to one complainant.
Comments made by Palin about the destruction of a bridge at Mostar, Bosnia in 1993 came in for criticism from the complainant. Palin's comments were made in 'War and Peace', the first episode of the series, which was broadcast on BBC1 in September last year.
In its ruling on the Palin show, published today as part of its monthly update on complaints, the ESC said the presenter's comment that there was "no reason for the destruction" of the bridge at Mostar was "inaccurate".
The complainant also took exception to Palin's suggestion in the show that Serbia was "unfairly blamed" for all the trouble in the region.In its ruling the ESC said that commentary in the show had oversimplified the issues when referring to who was to blame for the Balkan wars of the 1990s.
The committee said that the programme had "tried to provide context to imply that Serbia was not solely to blame".However, it added that the "choice of phrasing did not do justice to the complex and controversial nature of the issues".
The ESC said that the comments "needed balance and context", adding that while the programme did not carry a political message it "could have done more to highlight Serbia's role in the conflict".
Moreover, the makers of the travel programme had a "responsibility to be accurate when presenting facts, particularly around recent historic events which were matters of political controversy", the committee added.
"It [the ESC] would remind BBC management of the need to ensure that every effort is made to make certain that facts are thoroughly checked, so as not to mislead the audience and to meet the BBC's obligation on impartiality," the committee concluded.
Overall the complaint was partially upheld with regard to accuracy and impartiality.
The complainant also argued that the show missed "the matter of the Serbs massacring tens of thousands of Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica".However, the ESC ruled that "the decision as to where a programme goes and what is featured is a matter of editorial judgment".
"It was not a requirement for a programme reporting on the wars of the 1990s to remark on events at Srebrenica to ensure impartiality," the committee said.
"The choice of the title 'War and Peace' underlined the fact that the programme makers wanted to report and comment on the recent history as well as the present situation," said the ESC in its conclusion.
"Given that ambition and the highly contentious nature of the debate about the wars in former Yugoslavia, the programme makers should have taken greater care to ensure accuracy an impartiality."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/aug/04/bbc.balkansWhen someone dares to think that Serbia is not guilty as it was presented and try to speak up,here what you get-CENSORSHIP!
Also,his "mistake" was that he was not saying anything about "the matter of the Serbs massacring tens of thousands of Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica".
They want to continue with lies and propaganda!
Topic: Michael Palin(from Monty Python) censured on BBC because of Serbia! (Read 2376 times)