Från Daily Mail: Christianity gets less sensitive treatment than other religions admits BBC chief
BBC director-general Mark Thompson has claimed Christianity is treated with far less sensitivity than other religions because it is ‘pretty broad shouldered’.
He suggested other faiths have a ‘very close identity with ethnic minorities’, and were therefore covered in a far more careful way by broadcasters.
But he also revealed that producers had to consider the possibilities of ‘violent threats’ instead of polite complaints if they pushed ahead with certain types of satire.
Mr Thompson said: ‘Without question, “I complain in the strongest possible terms”, is different from, “I complain in the strongest possible terms and I am loading my AK47 as I write”. This definitely raises the stakes.’
Jonathan Neuman på Commentary Magazine skriver: Islamophobia at the BBC
At the end of the day, the ethnicity rationale is nonsense. This is literal Islamphobia: fear of Islamists, and the ‘‘AK-47s’’ they wield and use. There is a welcome debate to be had about the limits of acceptable religious satire, but the BBC cannot have it both ways. And the lesson the BBC appears to be teaching – a lesson we always knew and apparently is also policy – is that complaints get more credence if they are backed up by force.
Hot ger effekt på publicisister, men det är sällan publicister vill skylta med det på det sätt som Mark Thompson gör. Han verkar också stolt över sin syn på muslimer som religiösa fanatiker vars naturliga reaktion på satir är våld. Att låta en sådan bild sätta sig är knappats förenligt med public service eller god publicistisk etik.
Det är viktigt att uppmärksamma mediedebatten utomlands. Svenska journalister är oerhört uppmärksamma på hur internationella medier agerar. Det finns nog en och annan publicist som håller med Mark Thompson i Sverige.