Melanie Philips, in The
Daily Mail, pointed to the way in which «as so often, [the BBC] has given undue
airtime to extremists, thus lending credence to the false impression
of the Pope's remarks», and she criticised the way the BBC had claimed that the Pope had «apologised», rather than simply expressing regret for the misinterpretation
of his comments, «thus helping Islamic extremists believe that the forces
of intimidation had cowed the Pontiff and scored a notable victory in the war against Western civilisation».