Broadcasting under fire

Gaza: Israeli rocket strikes Palestine Media Production, killing two

The German public broadcaster ZDF has condemned a rocket attack on a Palestinian production company it closely collaborates with. On Sunday, an Israeli rocket in the southern Gaza city of Deir el Balah killed an engineer at the Palestine Media Production Company (PMP) and the eight-year-old son of another staff member.  Another employee was injured in the attack, with video footage also showing the wreckage of a transmission van and other media vehicles.

The PMP has for decades been a close collaborator with ZDF. “Our thoughts are with the victims and their families, to whom we express our deepest condolences. It is unacceptable that media professionals are attacked while carrying out their work,” said ZDF Editor-in-Chief Bettina Schausten.

In response to ZDF’s enquiries, the Israeli Defense Forces said the attack was under review.

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UPDATE: On 27 October 2025, ZDF issued this update:

ZDF welcomes the fact that the Israeli army has complied with the request to clarify the identity of the killed employee of the production company PMP in Gaza. The 37-year-old, who was responsible for the handling of transmission technology as an engineer, was therefore a member of the terrorist organization Hamas.

A corresponding document was presented as proof. In response, the ZDF has suspended the cooperation until further notice.

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Italy: Rai journalist targeted by bomb threat 

An explosive device was detonated outside the home of a prominent Rai investigative journalist, Sigfrido Ranucci, causing serious damage to his car and his neighbour’s house. Last Thursday’s explosion reportedly happened only 20 minutes after Ranucci had returned to the house. 

Ranucci is the host of the investigation programme “Report”. Media freedom advocates, while condemning the attack, have also pointed to a wider pattern of increasing threats, intimidation and attacks against journalists. The Ossigeno per l’informazione observatory, which monitors press freedom in Italy, reported nearly eight thousand cases of intimidation and threats in the last 20 years. The Director General of the Journalist Union FNSI said the attack was “setting democracy in Italy back by several decades” and showed the intensification of repressions. 

The attack occurred on the anniversary of the death of the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, which remains unsolved. 

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South Africa: Pay increase for staff while signal debt dispute still ongoing

The South African public broadcaster announced this week its intention to increase the salaries of non-unionised employees by 4.5 percent for the year 2025-2026. This increase could also apply to unionised employees, but an agreement has yet to be reached with the trade unions. However, at the same time, “retrenchments” could be foreseen in the sales department of the public broadcaster, as part of its restructure to improve the revenues of the organisation.

However, the public media entity is still troubled by financial pressures, due to rising operational costs, the decline of advertising revenues, and ongoing licence fee non-payments. According to the findings of the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA), a significant part of TV licence-fee avoidance (73 percent), are “associated with government entities and government officials”. 

Moreover, the State signal distributor Sentech warned that it could no longer carry the signal distribution services of the SABC, for lack of payment. The public broadcaster has accumulated a debt exceeding one billion Rand (€61 million). Sentech’s CEO, Tebogo Leshope said that the non-payment issue could not “be deferred to the finalisation of the SABC Bill or the finalisation of the funding model. It is extremely urgent”. The bill, meant to clarify the funding model of the public broadcaster, is still dragging on. Warnings have been signalled that if the SABC failed to pay for the distribution signal services, they could face a blackout by the end of 2025.

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UK: Major BBC survey reveals support, but question over  independence 

A major audience survey by the BBC has found strong support for its core mission of “informing, educating and entertaining” the British public, but there are growing concerns over its independence – one of the things that matters most to audiences. 

The “Our BBC, Our Future” survey aimed to find out what the British public thinks and expects from the BBC. The data showed less than half of respondents believe the BBC manages to remain free from government influence.  When questioned about this, corporation’s Director General Tim Davie said the BBC was “absolutely not” tangled in government influence, with its independence “absolutely sacrosanct”. 

Another prominent question was whether the BBC appropriately represented the different parts of the UK and the people living there.  Half of respondents believed it was the case, but the BBC said it would become a priority to better serve the public. 

The survey results come with the current charter due to end in 2027, with the government set to determine the future of the BBC will through its next charter.

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