In a significant legal development, the High Court has issued a ruling favoring journalist Owen Jones in a defamation lawsuit initiated by Raffi Berg, the BBC News Online’s Middle East Editor. The case centers on an article authored by Jones and published by Drop Site News, which alleged that Berg fostered a culture of institutional bias favoring Israel within the BBC.
The court’s decision rejected the core argument presented by Berg’s legal team, which contended that Jones’s reporting depicted him as “a rogue journalist and editor who deliberately disregards and breaches the duties of accuracy and impartiality.” Instead, the justices determined that the article in question constituted an expression of opinion, for which Jones had provided a basis by citing specific examples of Berg’s journalistic and editorial work.
This preliminary ruling is pivotal as it establishes the framework for whether the libel claim can proceed. The judgment now places the burden of proof on Berg, who must demonstrate either that Jones did not genuinely hold the expressed opinion or that no honest person could have formed such a view based on the facts available at the time of publication.
Following the verdict, Jones affirmed his stance on social media, stating, “I stand by my journalism and, if Mr. Berg decides to continue the libel claim, I look forward to defending my article in court.” His original piece quoted anonymous BBC colleagues who accused Berg of systematically reshaping headlines, narrative text, and imagery to foreground the Israeli military perspective while diminishing Palestinian humanity.
The article further asserted that Berg exercised a “crucial role” in conduct that jeopardizes the BBC’s integrity. In response, Berg’s legal counsel argued last year that the publication had severely damaged his professional reputation and triggered an “onslaught of hatred, intimidation and threats,” including death threats.
Financial disclosures reveal that Drop Site News has already incurred approximately $40,000 in legal expenses related to the case but successfully raised over $100,000 through a public fundraising appeal within just over 24 hours.
Background context includes Berg’s 2020 authorship of ‘Red Sea Spies,’ a book detailing a covert Mossad operation to transport Ethiopian Jews to Israel in the 1980s. Berg previously described it as “wonderful” to be in a “circle of trust” with current and former Mossad agents while researching the book, which was later pictured on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bookshelf.