At the very least, Trevor Assertion has performed an invaluable service by publishing the most detailed, forensic and broadly based examination ever attempted of the BBC’s coverage of Israel. It suggests what for many has long been obvious: that our national broadcaster’s reporting reflects a deeply ingrained prejudice against the Jewish state.

Obvious it may be, but until now it has been relatively easy for the BBC to dismiss accusations of bias as being subjective. One of the many strengths of Mr Asserson’s report is that it uses the power of AI to match millions of words broadcast and published against the BBC’s own editorial guidelines. The broadcaster has questioned his interpretation of the data, but it indicates that the BBC may have violated its guidelines 1,553 times during the four-month period beginning October 7, 2023.

Other broadcasters suffer from similar bias, but Asserton points out that the BBC’s is the most egregious because it remains the most trusted news organisation in the world. When it gets things wrong, the impact of that mistake is of a different order of magnitude, as was evident when its international editor Jeremy Bowen erroneously reported that Israel had bombed the Al-Shifa Hospital.

The BBC’s response to the report has, predictably, been defensive and dismissive, which is part of the problem. It should welcome constructive criticism, which is how organisations improve. Instead, it doubles down and rejects the very notion of there being a systematic problem.

This issue will not go away, so the BBC will have to find a more sensible way to respond. The best idea mooted so far is for it to commission its own (genuinely) independent inquiry, so it can assess for itself the value of the Asserson report’s findings.