Robbie Gibb, former UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s Director of Communications, is the lobby’s “inside man”. (Photo credit: BBC)
Robbie Gibb sits on the board of the BBC.
He was appointed in 2021.
He has been critical of the BBC’s reporting on the Israel – Gaza war.
Gibb sits on the key committee looking at editorial standards at the BBC – the coverage of the war in Gaza is at the top of the agenda for that committee.
Where it gets interesting is that he is also listed on Companies House (the register for all UK companies) as being the “owner” of the Jewish Chronicle.
The Jewish Chronicle is widely reagrded as an asset of the “Israel Lobby”. Which has been very vocal in its support for Israel’s actions in Gaza.
How can a man like Gibbs who “owns” the partisan newspaper that has been mired in misreporting and fake news, sit on the board of the BBC.
In particular, sit on a committee that looks at the editorial positions of the BBC in relation to the Gaza war?
There is an obvious and clear conflict of interest.
It was the Jewish Chronicle that published a poll suggesting most Jews in the UK are not happy with what they perceived as bias reporting by the BBC on the Gaza war (the BBC has repeatedly rejected these accusations as baseless).
A newspaper that is “owned” by the BBC Director Gibbs, publishes a poll that says Jewish people in the UK are not happy with the reporting of the BBC on Israel.
Gibbs then pushes that narrative internally at the BBC to get the reporting done how the Israel Lobby wants it to be done.
This is corruption. Corruption of our publicly funded BBC.
Robbie Gibb’s position is untenable and he must be sacked with immediate effect.
With a public inquiry opened to understand what exactly has gone on here.
It doesn’t end there.
Gibbs is listed as the sole “owner” of the Jewish Chronicle.
When the paper was sold in 2020 after running into financial difficulties it had debts of around 3 million pounds.
Gibbs does not have that kind of money.
Nor does he have the money to cover the millions of losses the Jewish Chronicle incurs each year.
Where has the money come from and who really owns the Jewish Chronicle?
The short answer is no one knows.
When Gibbs was asked about this he has refused to say.
That is an oxymoron.
A newspaper that publishes news, refuses to provide details on its financial backers and real owners.
Gibbs is nothing but a front man. That much is clear.
Gibbs lectures journalists at the BBC about being non-partisan and yet here he is shrouded in mystery.
One of the key principles of the BBC is transparency.
Yet here we are, a Director of the BBC is anything but transparent.
The Editor of the Jewish Chronicle, Jake Wallis Simons has also been asked about who the real owner are. he too has refused to say.
He is quoted in the past as saying “these questions are not for me”.
It is unrealistic to believe the Editor of a newspaper will not know who the owners and financial backers are.
Imagine any other paper in the UK was shrouded in such mystery.
There would be public furore.
Imagine the backers were thought to be Emiratis, German or even French.
The rumour is, the Jewish Chronicle is really owned by an American Jewish billionaire who has far-right views on Israeli politics, and is an anti-Palestinian racist.
He is billionaire, Paul E Singer, sometimes referred to as a “vulture capitalist”.
Singer is the founder of Elliott Management and made a fortune – estimated at $6bn – by buying distressed debts and selling them for high value
Alan Rusbridger, ex Editor of the Guardian, discusses this today with James O’Brian on LBC.
The UK government must step in.
Before the takeover of the paper by the Israel lobby, the paper had the worst record for a community newspaper for misinformation.
Since the takeover those complaints have multiplied.
The paper has faced several complaints with the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) over the years, particularly regarding its coverage of sensitive political and religious topics.
As of recent years, the publication has been the subject of multiple high-profile rulings by IPSO for inaccurate or misleading reporting.
One notable statistic comes from 2020, when IPSO upheld 6 complaints against the Jewish Chronicle in a period of only 5 months.
Primarily for inaccuracies related to articles about the Labour Party and falsified allegations of antisemitism.
These rulings led to public apologies and corrections by the newspaper.
No one know for sure who owns and funds the Jewish Chronicle.
Without transparency there is no accountability.
“Democracy dies in darkness”. (Bob Woodward)
