The BBC Has Lost the Plot
While the blood of protesters is barely dry, the BBC is under fire for labeling Iran’s regime-led rallies a "family festival." Critics are erupting in fury after correspondent Lyse Doucet ignored the regime's recent massacres to deliver what activists call a "disgusting" whitewash of the Islamic Revolution’s 47th anniversary.
In its first reporting trip to Iran since last month’s deadly crackdown on anti-government protests, the BBC portrayed parts of the 47th anniversary celebrations of the 1979 Islamic Revolution as having a festive atmosphere.
BBC chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet, reporting from Tehran yesterday, said, “It’s a public holiday today, and in Tehran it feels like a family festival.”
She also referred to “a festival air at the rallies” amid bunting, flags, and large crowds of government supporters filling the streets for the state-organized events marking 47 years since the revolution that overthrew the Shah.
The BBC noted that authorities had put on a show of strength, with the daytime scenes projecting the image the government wanted to present.
The BBC team reported on condition that none of the material would be used on the BBC’s Persian Service.
The wording triggered sharp criticism from Iranian opposition voices. Belgian MP Darya Safai, an Iranian-born Kurdish activist, posted on X shortly after the report:“ Disgusting. They shut down the internet and slaughtered us, and now they invite the ayatollahs’ BBC to label 47 years of occupation a ‘family festival.’”
Safai highlighted that in the BBC clip, a large regime slogan was visible behind the correspondent reading, “God willing, we will destroy Israel. Inshallah.”
She accused the BBC of whitewashing the regime while independent journalists are barred from free access.