By Amanuel Biedemariam, 02 December 2008

Throughout the last nine decades the BBC held a position of credibility and notoriety only matched by few. The BBC is one of the oldest and largest broadcasting organizations with unmatched penetration ability. Historically, the BBC and the Voice of America (VOA) held a unique place in the lives of many around the globe. They enjoyed a positive perception particularly during the Cold-War compared to the Soviet Union's public information campaigns based on Marxist and Leninist dogma. The VOA and the BBC infiltrated nations around the world using the English language people understand with ease. In addition, the democratic ideals and pop-culture the West sold appealed to the wider world in many cases opposite religious beliefs and cultural norms.

The BBC is a national broadcasting organisation founded on 1922 with British Royal charter.It is publicly funded with a mission to "inform, educate and entertain." The BBC has a World Service programm which is funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office(FCO). It is the US State Department equivalent responsible for promoting the interests of United Kingdom around the globe. While the BBC claims independence and holds reporting independence as a core-value, historically, its values reflected the national agenda based on missios and strategic-approaches that are designed to Bring UK to the World and the World to the UK. By proxy, BBC reporters and esepcially BBC World Service reporters are extensions of British FCO.

After the war broke out between Eritrea and Ethiopia in 1998, we saw a trend of reporting and consistent campaign that attempted to put Eritrea in a bad light without concern to bias, facts and journalistic integrity. In 2000 we witnessed a BBC reporter Rageh Omaar flown into Eritrean territories by Ethiopian helicopters to show the world how the mighty Ethiopian troops were able to penetrate deep into Eritrean territories in a manner that resembles a safari-aerial-tour. He ignored carnage that took place in other theaters of operation and gave the world a wrong sanitized version ignoring tens of thousands dead Ethiopian soldiers. We read an article by Alex Last that claimed Eritreans don't sing love songs, just war songs that kids are tired of therefore, they listen to Ethiopian songs. He ignored the history of Eritrean music and failed to show the role music plays in the lives of Eritreans. It is more of a PR campaign to demonize Eritrea even if facts contradict assertions.

The recent article by Martin Plaut "Pirates Working with Islamist" is an excellent example. Here's a quote: "Somali pirates have been accused of forming what is described as an "unholy high seas alliance" with some of the country's Islamist insurgents. The Islamists are using the pirates to train their own forces in naval tactics so that they can provide protection for arms being smuggled in Somalia from Eritrea. They are reported to have been picked up from islands off the Eritrean coast." end quote.

The summary of the referred quote; Eritrea is training arming and delegating the pirates from her coasts. The Islamic Court Union (IRC) doesn't own a naval facility so Eritrea becomes directly responsible.

This is blasphemous to the law abiding people of Eritrea. This article places the people of Eritrea in a crime seen. It attempts to create a new fabricated image of Eritrea in the business of piracy. It introduces the idea of a lawless-nation and people. It diminishes the serenity Eritrean waters enjoy. To his credit Mr. Plaut cites intelligence reports to exonerate himself. However, if that is the only standard required to indict a country for piracy, the BBC's credibility must be questioned and scrutinized. Because this is precisely what the Bush Administration did to make the case for war against Iraq. The media led by New York Times reported unsubstantiated information that linked chemicals and nuclear materials to the hands of Sadam Hussein without providing hard evidence using reporters who decided to go along and get paid by reporting erroneous information. As a result many Iraqis lost their livelihood, destroyed the country and lost untold number of lives and innocent children.

Abrogating his journalistic responsibility and the basic motto of the BBC foundation, "to bring world to the UK and the UK to the world," Martin Plaut's report missed opportunity to bring Somalia and her issues to the UK in its entirety. Instead, he squandered his time on a PR game against Eritrea by accusing Eritrea for being accessory to the act of piracy.

This is a continuation of one of the many failed strategies concocted by Dr. Janday Frazer and Meles Zenawi such as the failed attempt to label Eritrea a State sponsor of terror. It Is agenda driven journalism with a personal tint. It is an open secret that Mr. Plaut pals-around with the most hardened anti Eritrean Government elements beyond his journalistic duties. Mr. Plaut deprived the UK information by denying them the true picture of the situation in contradiction to reports by many credible sources. Here is a quote from a Nov 20th Economist magazine article that contradicts Mr. Plaut assertions and fabrication, "Anarchy in Somalia, The lawless Horn."

"In Somalia in 2006, however, the Bush administration tried something different: war by proxy. It gave a green light for Ethiopia to invade Somalia. The plan was for Ethiopia to squash an Islamist movement and reinstate a Somali government that had lost control of most of its territory. Two years on, the plan has backfired. Abdullahi Ahmed, Somalia's increasingly notional president, admitted on November 15th that a variety of Islamist insurgents once again dominate most of the country, leaving only two cities, Mogadishu and Baidoa, in the hands of his increasingly notional government. Neither Ethiopia nor the African Union ever sent enough soldiers to impose order. Worse, the strongest of the insurgent groups, the Shabab, is even more radical than the Islamic Courts movement which the Americans and Ethiopians originally took on. It is suspected of being linked by money to the pirates (who hand over a slice of the ransom in return for protection) and by ideology to al-Qaeda." economist.com

Martin Plaut is an associate fellow with the Royal Institute of International Affairs and editor with the BBC World Service. He is Associate Fellow of Chatham House. The Chatham House is a sister program to The Council on Foreign Relation in the US. In a nut-shell, they are tasked at framing issues and opinions around the world with their agenda in perspective.

In light of the debacle in Iraq by Bush and Blair duo, it is incumbent on the people of UK to ask the BBC and BBC World Service; is this best that you can do? Is this what the people in the United Kingdom deserve? Or is this the true agenda of the FCO/State Department? These questions deserve answers. They deserve answers for clarity, to establish accountable reporting and affirm standards of higher integrity.

The World has a long memory and remembers the British Empire, the legacy of British Colonial and Slavery past. Globalization doesn't invite for a broken world, it invites integration with all parts functioning. If the US sneezes the world gets flu and conversely if Somalia is beset by piracy, world trade will be affected with spiraling domino implications to societies around the globe. Globalization doesn't invite hegemony it works by cooperation and mutual benefit-sharing ideals. It could only succeed when the world powers realize this is a new World-order, indeed. But not the one George Bush one envisioned. It is a natural process that ought to incorporate the true principles of free markets without coercion or duress.

In a recent HARDtalk interview with US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Janday E Frazer, Stephen Sackur asked the questions that needed to be asked of the Bush Administration's engagement with Africa. He conducted the interview in the spirit of true journalism by challenging claims. It was refreshing to see and it makes one wonder why Mr. Plaut sold the British audience short by providing them a fabricated story? The UK must ask, why the discrepancy? Is Martin Plaut corrupt-ed or it is the system?

This has been a year of change in both the US and UK because people collectively and spontaneously rejected the hegemonies pushed by President Bush and Prime Minister Blair. Their agendas were exposed as a result of their failures in Iraq. But their adventures came with a heavy-price-tag in terms of precious lives-lost, world peace, financial meltdowns, instability, and diplomatic loss of credibility. They sold-out business advantages to China by employing aggressive military-based-diplomacy in the Horn of Africa and helped to create animosity towards the West with negative implications for the future relations.

President Bush and Prime Minster Blair embraced Meles Zenawi and leaders that are corrupt in an effort to accomplish their agenda against the wish of the people even after Meles lost the election. Martin Plaut represents that failed policy. He helped pursue and sell the agenda ignoring the basic ethical-principles of journalism. He became a PR point man in the region using his connections with Chatham House and the like to frame opinions against Eritrea rather than giving the British people an accurate picture of the region in a balanced approach.

Ten days after the article by Mr. Plaut, Meles Zenawi is claiming Eritrea is responsible for the Somali piracy. They support each others claims to give validity to their false accusations and use that to sell the idea to UN and other world bodies and that becomes the news cycle. Reporters like Martin Plaut give the journalism a black eye by destroying its credibility. The BBC is too important to carry the burden Mr. Plaut represents and needs to hold him accountable. The BBC needs to help restore the faith of the people of Eritrea and many around the globe. The world needs the BBC to play a positive role. In addition the BBC needs to take appropriate action with Mr. Plaut in order sanitize the profession and to take a fresh approach. Piracy is not good for the region and Eritrea. Mr. Martin Plaut is not helping the region and BBC by his fabrications or biased reporting, he is damaging it by diverting attention from the real issues of finding the real solutions for the crying helpless kids of Somalia. The BBC should to take appropriate measures to restore credibility and the UK needs to see that BBC is a good custodian of the profession of journalism.