Thomson Reuters on Monday rejected
a call to sack an employee who sent an
unsolicited e-mail criticizing Israel to a Jewish group.
The news agency
called the letter sent by Svebor Kranjc to the European Jewish Congress (EJC)
last September regrettable but confirmed he would remain in his
position.
RELATED:
WJC president: Palestinian UN bid will cause terrorism“Both Reuters and the employee involved regret the incident,
and Reuters has taken appropriate action,” a Reuters representative wrote in an
e-mail. “Our reputation for independence and objectivity has been hard-earned
over many years, and we remain committed to preserving it.”
Last
September the EJC sent a press release to media outlets during the buildup to
the Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations. In the statement, the
Jewish advocacy group urged European governments not to support the initiative
arguing unilateral measures were detrimental to the peace
process.
Kranjc, who is listed as the head of the Reuters television
department at its Amsterdam bureau, responded from his work mailbox declaring
his support for the Palestinian bid.
“I am going to support it!” he wrote
in a two-lined message. “You have your state but you don’t want others to
have their state. So sad.”
An EJC spokeswoman said Kranjc violated the
journalistic code of impartiality and called for his dismissal.
“It is
inconceivable that Reuters will continue to employ staff who so openly express
ill-informed and ignorant opinions,” she said.
“We call upon Reuters, one
of the oldest news agencies in the world and one that has a reputation for fair
and balanced news, to remove employees who bring a political agenda into their
work in journalism and media, and in their professional
relations.”
Reuters launched an inquiry into the incident and announced
its decision not to sack Kranjc on Monday.
The EJC spokeswoman said on
Monday it was pleased Reuters had recognized the “misconduct” of its employee
but would like to learn more about the measures it has adopted to avoid similar
instances of “outrageous bias” in the future.
“We hope that those who
seek to impart their ideology or personal agenda into the news will find no
place at Reuters or any other respectable news organization,” she said.