Feminist anti-war group Codepink launches petition calling on broadcaster to retract the story
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescuers conduct a rescue operation at the site of a mudslide following days of heavy rain from tropical cyclone Saudel in Suichuan County of Ji'an City
THE BBC was accused of false reporting over claims that China has been censoring footage of the recent deadly floods which hit Nepal and the Tibetan plateau.
A petition from feminist anti-war group Codepink demanding the broadcaster retract a “false report on China” gained over 1,500 signatures in a few hours since it was shared yesterday.
They urged the BBC to focus on the “central story” of the catastrophic flood — the climate crisis – rather than “using” the tragedy to “spread misinformation about China.”
Their message to BBC editors read: “Instead of documenting the human consequences of the accelerating climate crisis, the BBC instead chose to turn this tragedy into another anti-China story.”
It said claims that footage was broadly “censored” deserves serious scrutiny, considering how “widely reported across Chinese media the floods have been.”
An “assumption of secrecy, censorship” in reporting on China “in the face of readily available evidence to the contrary” should raise “serious questions about bias and journalistic standards,” they added.
Even when tragedy strikes, Western media cannot resist the opportunity to turn it into a sordid propaganda opportunity, as the Nepal-China border tragedy shows, writes CARLOS MARTINEZ
