A BBC war reporter made a shocking
blunder by tweeting a photograph of an injured child from Syria but
indicating she was from Gaza.
Gaza correspondent Jon Donnison added 'Heartbreaking' to the front of a message he retweeted from a Palestinian 'journalist and social activist' named Hazem Balousha.
Balousha had posted a picture of a young girl lying on a hospital bed with bloodied clothes, along with the words 'Pain in #Gaza'.
Donnison's tweet went out to his 7,971 followers on the social networking site and he was soon hit with a barrage of outraged responses highlighting the mistake.
The website bbcwatch.org highlighted the error and wrote: 'Up to now, it may have been possible to put down Jon Donnison’s frequently problematic reporting to a lack of knowledge and understanding of the region.
'However, his decision to promote deliberate misinformation – either knowingly or as a result of a complete failure to check facts – indicates that he is not merely naive.'
Gaza correspondent Jon Donnison added 'Heartbreaking' to the front of a message he retweeted from a Palestinian 'journalist and social activist' named Hazem Balousha.
Balousha had posted a picture of a young girl lying on a hospital bed with bloodied clothes, along with the words 'Pain in #Gaza'.
Donnison's tweet went out to his 7,971 followers on the social networking site and he was soon hit with a barrage of outraged responses highlighting the mistake.
The website bbcwatch.org highlighted the error and wrote: 'Up to now, it may have been possible to put down Jon Donnison’s frequently problematic reporting to a lack of knowledge and understanding of the region.
'However, his decision to promote deliberate misinformation – either knowingly or as a result of a complete failure to check facts – indicates that he is not merely naive.'
Donnison apologised for the gaffe,
tweeting: 'A photo I retweeted from another journo showing children
injured was not in Gaza as I said but apparently from Syria. Apologies.'
A BBC News spokesperson said: 'Jon Donnison retweeted the photograph in good faith. He issued a correction and apologised as soon as he learned that the picture was not from Gaza.'
A BBC News spokesperson said: 'Jon Donnison retweeted the photograph in good faith. He issued a correction and apologised as soon as he learned that the picture was not from Gaza.'
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