Jonathan Dimbleby brands Royal Television Society ‘cowards’ for pulling Gaza award

Jonathan Dimbleby has called Royal Television Society (RTS) executives cowards for scrapping an grant for journalists successful Gaza due to the fact that they did not privation to deepen the contention astir a BBC documentary connected the conflict.

The historiographer and presenter is 1 of 300 TV and movie professionals who person signed a missive to the nine criticising its last-minute determination not to grant the prize astatine an awards ceremonial past week, arsenic a effect of the fallout from Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone.

The documentary was pulled from BBC’s online streaming services successful February and is the taxable of an interior probe aft claims emerged that Abdullah al-Yazouri, the film’s 13-year-old narrator, was the lad of Hamas’s lawman curate of agriculture.

It besides emerged that a Hamas official’s daughter, who appeared to observe the Oct 7 attacks, was paid during its making.

Dimbleby told The Times: “The determination is craven and the grounds connected which it has been made – the information that determination is an contented astir 1 BBC movie – are specious and shallow. No writer moving successful Gaza was progressive successful the making of that film.”

He added: “We beryllium hugely connected the reporting of those journalists who are successful Gaza, who enactment their lives connected the enactment each day, due to the fact that nary Western journalists tin participate but connected specially conducted trips.

“The RTS is rightly held successful precise precocious respect and that it should abruptly abdicate its relation due to the fact that it doesn’t privation to muddy the h2o is cowardly and ill-judged.”

‘Fuel to fire’

In an email to the chairmen of the society’s jury, archetypal cited by the quality website Deadline, the RTS said it did not privation to “add substance to the occurrence successful this existent environment”.

Adrian Wells, president of the RTS Television Journalism Awards, said past week: “We had planned to grant it to ‘Journalists successful Gaza’ to recognise their tremendous efforts implicit the past 18 months oregon truthful of utmost unit and endeavour. However, this award, successful the extremity volition not beryllium fixed connected Wednesday.

“Already this has go a governmental shot and the RTS is keen not to adhd substance to the occurrence successful this existent environment.

“It is simply a shame that this cannot proceed but remainder assured determination is simply a precise beardown showing and designation of journalism from Gaza passim the remainder of the evening.”

An RTS spokesperson said: “Investigations person precocious been launched into a fig of quality reports from Gaza and, arsenic those reviews are ongoing, we didn’t consciousness it was due to proceed with the grant this year.”

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph escaped for 1 period with unlimited entree to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.