The usual BBC response to a complaint

Back in June I complained about the BBC deliberately omitting relevant information from a report regarding Israel's relative size. My original piece  about the same matter may also be of interest. I note that I have received a response from the BBC and here it is:

'Dear Audience Member

Reference CAS-809912-D85Z5V


Thanks for contacting us regarding the ‘Today’ programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 10 June.

Firstly, we’d like to apologise for the severe delay in providing a response to your complaints. We appreciate our correspondents expect a swift reply and we’re sorry you’ve had to wait on this occasion.


We passed your concerns to our programme editors, who explain that it is not always possible to encompass the complex history of relations between Israel and the Palestinians in each individual report. Our purpose in using the statistic about the amount of land Israel acquired during the 1967 war was to simply to explain the scale of change which the conflict created. We described the dilemma of land for peace with the Palestinians in order to illustrate the legacy of the war which remains with us to this day. We do not agree that listeners were misled and believe it is clear the piece is about the current situation rather than the past.


Please be assured we’ve registered your feedback on our audience log. This is a daily report of audience feedback that's made available to many BBC staff, including members of the BBC Executive Board, channel controllers and other senior managers.


The audience logs are seen as important documents that can help shape decisions about future programming and content.


Thanks once again for contacting us.


Kind Regards Stephanie McGuckin BBC Complaints www.bbc.co.uk/complaints


NB This is sent from an outgoing account only which is not monitored. You cannot reply to this email address but if necessary please contact us via our webform quoting any case number we provided.'

 The usual bland we were right, you were wrong response, followed by an assurance that is worth nothing and finally the information that if you want to respond you'll have to go through the complaints procedure all over again.

Unfortunately I don't have the time to pursue this complaint but will be chasing up the BBC Trust re this outstanding complaint later this weekend.