Here is an example of either amateurish lazy below standard journalism, or a blatant bias by producers editors and a below standard under trained hacks who make up their minds before reporting a story.I am citing a radio report, broadcast on bbc radio four 13:00 (12:00 GMT) on Saturday 16 May 2015 reporting on sentencing former president Morsi of Egypt alongside other defendants. ..
The wording of script by presenter introducing the report and by the young hack in Cairo gave an impression 180 degrees different for the actual facts. It left little doubt that the trial was to do with Mr his overthrow when military intervened during a second revolution 2013 ( and there was a week of at least 20 odd millions – some estimated 30 million- calling for new presidential elections, while Muslim Brotherhood gangs were heav ily armed hence army had to intervene to avpoid a blood bath; NON of those essential background facts were mentioned by the BBC ) ; the verdict of Saturday trial was a death sentence .
BBC quoted Human Rights Watch a New York based organisation (But BBC did not mention another essential fact to inform their listeners that HRW did not attend the trail or the hearing and had no presence in Egypt for two years but BBC still used the statement accusing Egyptian authorities of using “courts as political tool”. The fact that the time elapsed between the sentencing and the release of HRW statement, obviously prepared for sometime; that didn’t trigger the curiosity of the BBC journalist to question, ) not only bbc did not quote or interview defence lawyers or the public prosecutors service lawyers ( raising serious questions about balance & Impartiality ) they failed either through lazy ignorance or deliberately to mention two important facts:
1-this trial has nothing to do with Mr Morsi’s overthrow or misconduct in office but started in 2012 when he was still in office . Charges brought by the PPS office back in October 2012 (still Muslim brotherhood government then presided over by morsi) and when he was asked by public prosecutor’s office to be interviewed president Morsi UNCONSTITUTINALLY sacked the entire PPS staff and Muslim Brotherhood thugs besieged courts .
Second fact Morsi and other defendants were charged under 1905 and 1946 criminal code acts with murder with intent and conspiracy to murder ( case filed in May and June 2011 by families of prison guards murdered in cold blood by Morsi and a gang of Hamas terrorists during escaping from natroun prison in West EGYPT February 2011) ..
There are forensic evidence, Morsi’s finger prints on the fire arms used ., non of those facts were mentioned by bbc hacks ..,misleading listeners to believe it was a political trial of an overthrown president rather than a criminal law trial for murder with charges predating his overthrow by 10 months.
Regardless of my personal strong opposition to capital punishment, the guilty verdict carries the death penalty ( still three stages of appeal available but bbc hacks chose not to mention it) .
Finally what comes to mind is a bit of comparison; a day earlier a court in North America found the Boston marathon number guilty and sentenced him to death ( four people died and a dozen injured) yet the lefties like bbc and HRW silently accepted the verdict in WHITE North America but an African country like Egypt gets harshly criticised without mentions all facts ( 7 people killed and 66 injured by Morsi and Hamas gang during the armed break out ) . If this is not a blatant racism then I don’t know what racism is