Throughout the month of March 2020, fourteen written or filmed reports relating to Israel and/or the Palestinians appeared on the BBC News website’s ‘Middle East’ page, some of which were also published on other pages and one of which was carried over from the previous month. Partway through the month the BBC announced changes to its coverage in light of the Coronavirus crisis.
(dates in brackets indicate the time period during which the item was available on the ‘Middle East’ page)
One report concerned security issues:
Palestinian teenager killed in West Bank clash (11/3/20 to 16/3/20) discussed here
Two items concerned Palestinian affairs, one of which was carried over from the previous month:
Mental health: Coping with the trauma of living in Gaza (29/2/20 to 4/3/20 and 5/3/20 to 8/3/20) discussed here
Gaza: Virus fears in crowded strip Yolande Knell (24/3/20 to 26/3/20) discussed here
One filmed report profiled an MMA fighter from Jordan living in the US:
MMA fighter: ‘I’m the pride of Palestine’ (6/3/20 to 7/3/20 and 8/3/20 to 27/3/20)
Of ten items relating to internal Israeli internal affairs, six reports concerned the general election:
Israel elections: Will the Arab Israeli vote swing the third election in a year? Tom Bateman (1/3/20 to 17/3/20) discussed here
Israelis vote in unprecedented third general election in a year (2/3/20) discussed here and here
Israel election: Netanyahu claims ‘biggest win’ amid vote count (3/3/20 to 4/3/20) discussed here
Israel election: Netanyahu seeks defectors after failing to secure majority (4/3/20 to 7/3/20) discussed here
Israel election: Gantz vows to form ‘broad’ unity government within days (16/3/20 to 19/3/20) discussed here
Israel election: Netanyahu rival Gantz ‘agrees emergency unity government’ (26/3/20 to present)
Four items related to the Coronavirus pandemic:
Coronavirus: Israel to bring in 14-day quarantine for all arrivals (9/3/20 to 11/3/20)
Coronavirus: Israel enables emergency spy powers (17/3/20 to 24/3/20) discussed here
Israel’s coronavirus patient 74 talks about her experience Tom Bateman (23/3/20 to present)
Israel’s Netanyahu tests negative for coronavirus (30/3/20 to present)
As we see over 70% of the items appearing on the BBC News website’s ‘Middle East’ page throughout March concerned Israeli affairs. As is usually the case, BBC audiences saw no meaningful coverage of internal Palestinian affairs.
Related Articles:
Summary of BBC News website portrayal of Israel and the Palestinians – February 2020
Reviewing BBC News website coverage of Palestinian affairs in 2019