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 was also the case in the previous two months, several articles concerning Turkey appeared on the Middle East page during November. Seeing as that country is not defined by the BBC as belonging to the Middle East, those articles are not included in the count.
The Middle East country which received the most coverage and exposure during November 2014 was Syria, with the number of reports augmented by the special two-day feature on that country. Second in terms of coverage came Israel, with many of the reports relating to the terror attacks which took place during November, but also with articles such as this one about a punch-up at a football match. Iraq was in third place in terms of coverage and exposure, with most of the stories relating to ISIS. In fourth place was Iran, with many of the reports being about the talks between that country and the P5+1 and Egypt came fifth. This is the twenty-first consecutive month in which Israel has consistently remained in the top five countries receiving the most exposure on the BBC News website’s Middle East page.
At the other end of the scale, some rare reporting from Oman was seen on the BBC News website’s Middle East page in November. However, BBC audiences did not receive any information which might enhance their understanding of that country’s lack of political rights, suppression of free expression or discrimination against women and homosexuals. Instead, a slide show of Omani landscapes was run for six consecutive days and an article about an Omani singer who died in 1979 also made an appearance. In other words, the policy of minimal reporting from countries defined as ‘not free’ continues to be in evidence.
Related Articles:
BBC Israel focus in numbers: October 2014 (includes links to all previous months)
