RTS to present special honour for journalists in Gaza at its Programme Awards

Journalists covering the Gaza conflict will now be recognised at the Royal Television Society’s Programme Awards, following an announcement that the presentation of the honour would be paused.

"The RTS will be making the Special Award for Journalists in Gaza at the Society’s Programme Awards on March 25," a spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The award was due to be presented at the Television Journalism Awards on March 5, but "it was felt strongly that there was potential at the ceremony on the night for the recent controversy around some Gaza coverage to overshadow the award", a spokesperson for the RTS said previously.

Last week, current affairs veteran Jonathan Dimbleby, Channel 4 News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Sky News journalist Alex Crawford were among those who signed a letter expressing their "shock and disgust" at RTS for not recognising the journalists of Gaza.

It comes after the BBC apologised for and removed the documentary Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone from iPlayer, saying it had "identified serious flaws" in the making of the programme.

Channel 4 News admitted that the son of a Hamas official, who featured in the BBC Gaza programme, was briefly part of its daily coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.

At the weekend, a spokesperson for RTS announced the society had met as part of a review process, following the decision to pause the presentation of the award, and added that the society would "be making the special award" and "discussing how this will take place".

The UK Screen Industry, which co-ordinated a letter signed by more than 300 media figures, said it welcomed the "U-turn", but said the "charity’s statement does little to address or allay our concerns".

The BBC said it is "seeking additional assurance" from production company Hoyo Films after it admitted "they paid the boy’s (Abdullah) mother, via his sister’s bank account, a limited sum of money for the narration".

Other accusations have been made that parts of the documentary were mistranslated and more children who appeared in it were linked to proscribed terrorist organisation Hamas.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has accused the BBC of failing to show enough urgency in its review of the documentary.

However, presenters Gary Lineker and Anita Rani, and actors Riz Ahmed and Miriam Margolyes, were among more than 500 media figures who condemned the withdrawal from iPlayer.