Overview
- At least four presenters used near-identical scripts that referred to “six million people” without saying they were Jews on BBC Breakfast, Radio 4’s Today, BBC News and BBC World News.
- The BBC called the introductions “incorrectly worded,” noted other items did specify “six million Jews,” and posted an online correction stating it should have said “six million Jewish people.”
- Jewish organizations and public figures including Karen Pollock of the Holocaust Educational Trust and UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation co-chair Lord Pickles condemned the omission as distortion.
- Former BBC television director Danny Cohen called the error a “new low point,” while media watchdogs alleged the broadcaster reused the same script across programs.
- BBC presenter Martine Croxall defended her output by sharing a script excerpt that referenced “mostly Jews” murdered at Auschwitz earlier in her program.