25 January 2009

Now you see it, now you don't...

As Dr C commented five days ago, Gaza very promptly disappeared from public view as soon as the Isra'eli assault ended.

Sadly, the suffering of civilians there will not have disappeared so tidily.

Perhaps, therefore, I should be grateful to the BBC for bringing it back into the headlines and public consciousness (in the UK, at least) with a bizarre decision not to show the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal for aid funds on the grounds that it might seem biased.

I generally hold the BBC to be "better than most", but this time I think they got it wrong. Ironically, though, the appeal has probably secured better publicity through the resulting row than it would have received from a BBC screening. Even the BBC is prominently reporting the row itself...