FBC Media

In August 2011, the Sarawak Report blog, named after the state in Malaysia, reported that FBC Media was doubling as a public relations firm for Malaysian politicians. It suggested that the company carried puff pieces about Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud in shows that it produced.{{cite news |title=CNBC drops 'World Business' |url=https://www.politico.com/blogs/onmedia/0811/CNBC_drops_World_Business.html |work=Politico |date=2011-08-03 |first=Kearch |last=Hagey |access-date=2011-10-28}} Sarawak Report is edited by Clare Rewcastle Brown who alleges that Taib and his family have profited from logging Sarawak's rainforests.{{cite web |title=About Us |url=http://www.sarawakreport.org/about/ |publisher=Sarawak Report |accessdate=2011-10-28}} Malaysian budget records showed FBC received RM58 million to conduct a "Global Strategic Communications Campaign" for the government of Malaysia. The Malaysian government paid out a further RM42 million to FBC in 2010.{{cite web |title=Taib Paid Out $5 Million To Attack Sarawak Report! – International Expose |url=http://www.sarawakreport.org/2011/08/taib-paid-out-5-million-to-attack-sarawak-report-international-expose/ |publisher=Sarawak Report |date=2011-08-01 |accessdate=2011-10-28}} Between 2009 and 2011, FBC-produced programmes One Square Mile and Develop or Die featured reports from Sarawak criticising environmentalists who oppose logging and palm oil plantations in the state.

An investigation by The Independent further revealed that Microsoft had contracted FBC to provide similar media coverage.{{cite news |title=Microsoft, Red Cross and UN sucked into global news fixing row |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/microsoft-red-cross-and-un-sucked-into-global-news-fixing-row-2362707.html |work=The Independent |date=2011-09-29 |first=Ian |last=Burrell |accessdate=2011-10-28}} Sarawak Report also claimed that the government of Kazakhstan benefited from FBC's services when Prime Minister Karim Massimov was interviewed by John Defterios on CNN during the World Economic Forum in January 2011.{{cite web |title=We Release the Documents – Exclusive Proof! |url=http://www.sarawakreport.org/2011/08/we-release-the-documents-exclusive-proof/ |publisher=Sarawak Report |date=2011-08-18 |accessdate=2011-10-28}}

In light of the allegations, CNBC cancelled World Business. The BBC suspended all programming made by FBC due to suspicions of conflict of interest and began an investigation into the matter.{{cite news |title=BBC drops film-maker over Malaysia impartiality fears |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14556988 |publisher=BBC News |date=2011-08-17 |accessdate=2011-10-28}} Sarawak Report also targeted CNN for criticism, claiming that Defterios used his platform on the network to give sympathetic interviews to FBC clients.{{cite news |title=CNN faces questions over host's ties |url=https://www.politico.com/blogs/onmedia/0811/CNN_faces_questions_over_hosts_ties.html |work=Politico |date=2011-08-08 |first=Kearch |last=Hagey |access-date=2011-10-28}} Defterios was criticised for lobbing softball questions at Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in a July 2011 interview. In response, CNN clarified that Defterios had resigned from FBC in March 2011. Defterios's date of resignation is disputed by The Independent and Sarawak Report, who claim he only left FBC after the scandal broke.{{cite web |title=FBC Media Scandal – Growing Questions For CNN's John Defterios |url=http://www.sarawakreport.org/2011/08/fbc-media-scandal-growing-questions-for-cnns-john-defterios-2/ |publisher=Sarawak Report |date=2011-08-05 |accessdate=2011-10-28}}

The Atlantic also launched an internal investigation due to a piece by Alan Friedman on the magazine praising the "statesmanlike debut" of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the World Economic Forum in January 2011.{{cite news |title=Atlantic will investigate whether blogger promoted clients |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2011/08/atlantic-to-investigate-blogger-061866 |work=Politico |first1=Keach |last1=Hagey |first2=Ben |last2=Smith |date=2011-08-22 |access-date=2011-10-28}} Atlantic Media Company President Justin Smith sat on the board of FBC Media but resigned after the scandal broke.{{cite news |title=Justin Smith steps down from FBC Media board |url=https://www.politico.com/blogs/onmedia/0811/Justin_Smith_steps_down_from_FBC_Media_board.html |work=Politico |date=2011-08-22 |first=Keach |last=Hagey |access-date=2011-10-28}}

FBC denied all allegations. Its lawyers said the company's production and commercial divisions which "are and always have been quite separate and distinct."{{cite news |title=Ian Burrell: Surely viewers deserve better than this? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/ian-burrell-surely-viewers-deserve-better-than-this-2376944.html |work=The Independent |date=2011-10-28 |first=Ian |last=Burrell |accessdate=2011-10-28}}

After the revelations by Sarawak Report, FBC took down its website which claimed: "We control blue-chip television editorial time-slots" and can "guarantee controlled messaging from A to Z on the world's leading news channels." Its promotional message also included promising "an elite audience" via BBC World News, CNN, CNBC, The Economist, the Financial Times, Business Week, The Wall Street Journal and the International Herald Tribune. The website was replaced by a single page with basic company information.

FBC Media went into administration on 24 October 2011.

On 15 November 2011, British media regulator Ofcom announced that it is launching an investigation into FBC's practices.{{cite news |title=BBC 'cheap programming' scandal exposed |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/bbc-cheap-programming-scandal-exposed-6262533.html |work=The Independent |date=2011-11-15 |first=Ian |last=Burrell |accessdate=2011-11-21}}

The BBC Trust's editorial standards committee (ESC) found that eight programmes produced by FBC were found to breach the broadcaster's conflict of interest guidelines. While the ESC said that it had no evidence of programme sponsorship, it still concluded that FBC's production of programmes about Malaysia while having a financial relationship with the government of Malaysia was a "serious" breach of guidelines.{{cite press release |title=BBC to tighten rules on sponsored programming following serious breaches of its guidelines on commercial channel World News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/news/press_releases/november/world_news.shtml |publisher=BBC |date=2011-11-15 |accessdate=2011-11-21}}

One of the eight programmes was made on the subject of Egypt in March 2011 during the Arab Spring. The Independent has claimed that FBC worked for the regime of toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

• 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.fbcmedia.com/ Official site]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20111123192451/http://www.sarawakreport.org/fbc/ Original official site] maintained by Sarawak Report

Category:1998 establishments in the United Kingdom

Category:Mass media companies of the United Kingdom