Media News - Wednesday, July 02, 2008

BBC in dispute with Norway’s TV2

The BBC is embroiled in a row with a Norwegian broadcaster over its Africa coverage and its willingness to provide material for a documentary about its news output. A documentary produced by Norway's largest commercial broadcaster, TV2, makes a series of allegations against BBC News over what it claims were mistaken reports about a famine in Niger. In an email seen by MediaGuardian.co.uk, a BBC Worldwide sales executive refused to give a Swedish broadcaster permission to re-use its archive footage in subsequent showings of the TV2 documentary because of their negative nature. TV2 executives have accused the BBC of withdrawing permission because they are embarrassed by the content of the documentary. TV2's documentary, entitled The Famine Scam, criticises the United Nations and the BBC for having allegedly jointly reported in 2005 that the west African state of Niger was suffering from a famine. Interviewees in the film argue that no such famine existed. They include Niger's prime minister, local residents, doctors working in the region, a US aid organisation spokesman and other journalists. The conclusion of the documentary raises the question of whether the aid that flooded into Niger in the wake of the BBC reports caused greater harm than the food shortages. Though the BBC originally gave the documentary's producers a licence to use its filmed reports from Niger, it later withdrew its permission after the programme had been screened in Norway earlier this year. The refusal meant that the programme had to be shortened when shown in Sweden in April. The omission of the BBC news clips also reduced the dramatic impact of the documentary and damaged its central arguments. In its original form, the TV2 documentary was awarded third prize in the Monte Carlo TV festival earlier this month. The BBC concedes that the footage was not being used out of context in the documentary, which carried a full statement from the BBC at its conclusion. Senior BBC News sources have indicated that they would allow TV2 to include the footage if they were to reapply. (The Guardian)

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