BBC rejects accusations of bias – Azeri agency
Turan news agency
4 Jun 04
Baku, 4 June: The BBC World Service has issued a statement expressing
its regret that Azerbaijan’s ANS TV and radio company suspended
the transmission of its regional programmes in Russian on 1 June
2004. The statement says that Azerbaijani state radio will continue
rebroadcasting BBC programmes in Russian and on 103.3 FM in Baku. “The
BBC remains committed to covering events in the region and in other
parts of the world, scrupulously observing impartiality, fairness,
accuracy, balance and editorial independence and presenting a wide
range of opinions from all the strata of society,” the statement said.
The BBC takes all criticism seriously and reviews its coverage of
events in the region regularly. “On the basis of such comprehensive and
careful scrutiny, the BBC is confident in rejecting the suggestion that
its reports contain bias against any community in the region,” it said.
“The BBC provides equal opportunities to its employees and is
legally bound not to allow discrimination on racial, religious,
ethnic, national and sexual grounds, as well as because of martial
status, sexual orientation, disability or age,” the statement said
in conclusion.
To recap, ANS suspended the transmission of the programmes of
the BBC Central Asian and Caucasus Service in Russian saying that
they are biased and “pro-Armenian” in covering events around the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.
Turan note: The BBC World Service broadcasts its programmes throughout
the world in 43 languages on radio and the Internet. Some 150m people
across the world can listen to BBC radio, while its Internet web
sites receive 200m messages a month.
[Earlier, at 1130 gmt, Azerbaijan’s MPA news agency carried a similar
report on the BBC statement]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
