Criticism of the BBC Gaza dispute in a "balanced, objective way", and was concerned about endorsing something that could "suggest the backing one side". Politicians such as Tony Benn broke the corporation's ban on the appeal and broadcast the Gaza appeal on BBC News, saying that "If the BBC won't broadcast the appeal, then I'm going to do it myself", and adding that "no one [working for the broadcaster] agrees with what the BBC has done". Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, protested the BBC's decision by cancelling interviews scheduled with the company; ElBaradei claimed the refusal to air the aid
Sky News dimension to television journalism." Sky News was the UK's first 24-hour news channel, broadcast on Astra 1A. It had no local competition until November 1997 when BBC News launched a new 24-hour channel, BBC News 24, now known simply as BBC News. In September 1999 the European Commission ruled against a Sky News complaint which argued that the publicly funded BBC News 24 was unfair and illegal under EU law. The EC ruled that the television licence fee "should" be considered state aid (within the meaning of Article 87) but that the BBC's public service remit justified the channel. In