High court rules in favour of journalist Owen Jones in libel case

High court rules in favour of journalist Owen Jones in libel case Submitted by MEE staff on Thu, 03/12/2026 - 10:49 The case revolved around an article by Jones, which cited BBC journalists who pointing to BBC Middle East online editor Raffi Berg as playing a 'key role in a wider BBC culture of 'systematic Israeli propaganda' Off London's High Court has ruled in favour of journalist Owen Jones on key issues in a libel case brought by Raffi Berg, BBC news online's Middle East Editor, over an article alleging that he is biased towards Israel. The cases revolved around an article by Jones, published by the news outlet, Drop Site News, which cited BBC journalists who pointed to Berg as playing a "key role in a wider BBC culture of 'systematic Israeli propaganda". The court rejected Berg's lawyers' core argument that Jones' reporting presented him as "a rogue journalist and editor who deliberately disregards and breaches the duties of accuracy and impartiality that he knows are required of him as an Editor for BBC News online, with the purpose of presenting news reports falsely favourable to Israel that are intentionally biased and that deliberately ignore contrary evidence".