JOURNALIST Mishal Husain reportedly pushed for tougher scrutiny of Israel and for more voices to be heard from Gaza before her shock announcement that she is leaving the BBC.
The Today presenter will be leaving the show after 11 years to head up a new interview series for the American news agency Bloomberg next week.
According to The Times one of the reasons why Husain has decided to leave the BBC was because she grew frustrated with the broadcaster's coverage of the war in Gaza.
The newspaper also reported that she potentially ended her tenure at the corporation because she was unhappy about how the Today programme became increasingly casual and that she wanted to return to working in television.
The Times also reported that some of her colleagues felt that because Husain is one of the highest-profile Muslim journalists in the UK she faced increased scrutiny of her interviews with Israeli politicians.
It also claimed that she, and a number of other BBC journalists, were known to have expressed reservations in editorial meetings about the broadcaster's coverage of the war in Gaza.
“She feels we don’t sufficiently report on the deaths of civilians, and we frame too much from the Israeli perspective,” a senior source from the Today programme told The Times.
“She has pushed for more voices from within Gaza, and to use [Gaza correspondent] Rushdi Abualouf on air more regularly. She has also taken a lot of [external] heat.”
The BBC has faced scrutiny from campaigners over the way the broadcaster has covered the events in Gaza.
In October the Scottish Palestinian Society (SPS) said the BBC along with a number of other major news outlets had failed to follow “due diligence” and adhere to the ethical standards by “repeatedly promoting misleading and false narratives on Palestinians and Gaza”.
At Bloomberg, Husain will host and develop a weekend global interview show that is intended to run across a variety of formats.
In a statement last month, Husain announced she was leaving the BBC in the New Year after joining the organisation in 1998.
The statement read: “My time at the BBC has involved many memorable moments, going to places I would never otherwise have seen, witnessing history and being part of live, national conversation on Radio 4.
“I will always be grateful for the opportunities the BBC gave me, and wish the organisation and everyone who is part of it the very best.”
Commenting on her leaving, the editor of Today, Owenna Griffiths, said: “Mishal is not only a formidable journalist and first-rate presenter, she is an extremely generous and thoughtful colleague.
“It has been my great privilege to work alongside her and, along with the Today team, I'll miss her enormously but wish her all the very best in her new venture.”
