Below is our regular end of month count of articles appearing on the Middle East page of the BBC News website according to the twenty-two countries and territories defined by the BBC as making up that region per the profiles on that page.
As in previous months (see ‘related articles’ below), the count relates to three categories of articles – headline, non-headline and features – with the total representing both the appearance of a report and its level of exposure in terms of the number of days it stayed up on the site.
As we see, Syria received the most coverage on the BBC News website throughout January, followed by Egypt and then Israel. Fourth in terms of coverage was Iraq and fifth Iran. Lebanon, which has seen a violent month and the start of the Hariri tribunal, came sixth in terms of the amount and extent of coverage. 
Once again – and for the eleventh month running – Israel remains in the top five countries receiving the most exposure on the BBC News website.
If readers are perhaps wondering how much coverage the BBC News website devoted to the death of Ariel Sharon, we can tell you that there were five written articles and one profile (not included in this count) published before his death. After Sharon’s death was announced the BBC News website also produced one live page (not included in this count), three “In Pictures” features (not included in this count), nine written reports (some of which are included in this count) and eighteen filmed reports (not included in this count).
Related articles:
BBC Israel focus in numbers: December 2013 and year-end round up
BBC Israel focus in numbers – November 2013
BBC Israel focus in numbers – October 2013 (includes links to all preceding months)
