Last month we carried out a count of the number of articles relating to different countries and territories which have “country profiles” on the Middle East page of the BBC News website and the length of their exposure on the designated page of that website during March 2013.
For the month of April, we added another category, also counting articles appearing under the heading “Features & Analysis”.
We also separated the title ‘Palestinian territories’ into two: the PA controlled territories and the Gaza Strip. Below are the results of the count for April 2013.
As we see, Syria once again understandably received the most coverage and exposure on the BBC News website’s Middle East page during April 2013. But yet again, Israel came a close second, followed quite a way behind by Iraq – where provincial elections on April 20th were accompanied by a wave of violent attacks – and Egypt.
As we previously remarked:
“The fact that one tiny Middle East country with only a fraction of the region’s total population is the subject of so much reporting in comparison to most of its larger and, in many cases, more turbulent neighbours reflects a disproportional approach to Middle East reporting which in itself has the potential to compromise the BBC’s reputation for impartiality. “