A BBC Trust report on the impartiality and accuracy of the BBC’s coverage of the events known as the “Arab Spring” June 2012 Getting the best out of the BBC for licence fee payers A BBC Trust report on the impartiality and accuracy of the BBC‟s coverage of the events known as the “Arab Spring” Contents BBC Trust conclusions 1 Summary 1 Context 2 Summary of the findings by Edward Mortimer 3 Summary of the research findings 4 Summary of the BBC Executive‟s response to Edward Mortimer‟s report 5 BBC Trust conclusions 6 Independent assessment for the BBC Trust by Edward Mortimer - May 2012 8 Executive summary 8 Introduction 11 1. Framing of the conflict/conflicts 16 2. Egypt 19 3. Libya 24 4. Bahrain 32 5. Syria 41 6. Elsewhere, perhaps? 50 7. Matters arising 65 Summary of Findings 80 BBC Executive response to Edward Mortimer’s report 84 The nature of the review 84 Strategy 85 Coverage issues 87 Correction A correction was made on 25 July 2012 to clarify that Natalia Antelava reported undercover in Yemen, as opposed to Lina Sinjab (who did report from Yemen, but did not do so undercover). June 2012 A BBC Trust report on the impartiality and accuracy of the BBC‟s coverage of the events known as the “Arab Spring” BBC Trust conclusions Summary The Trust decided in June 2011 to launch a review into the impartiality of the BBC‟s coverage of the events known as the “Arab Spring”. In choosing to focus on the events known as the “Arab Spring” the Trust had no reason to believe that the BBC was performing below expectations. The Trust chose this subject because of its importance and because of the complexity of deciding how to organise impartial coverage in a fast-moving story across a range of conflicting voices eager to command world attention. That propaganda and fact were sometimes hard to distinguish, and that the significance of what was occurring was not always easy to identify and convey were also factors in the choice of this subject. The formal terms of reference for the review can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/news/press_releases/2011/arabspring_impartiality.html The Trust commissioned Edward Mortimer, then Senior Vice President of the Salzburg Global Seminar, former UN Director of Communications and expert in Middle East affairs, to lead the review. His review has been assessed by the Trust, together with the research which was specially commissioned to accompany it. It has produced a number of significant findings which the Trust believes are valuable in considering coverage going forward. In summary, the Trust‟s conclusions are that: The BBC‟s coverage of the Arab Spring was remarkable given the challenges involved and was generally impartial The Trust recognises the considerable courage of the journalists and technicians on the ground who reported on these events, some of whom risked their lives to bring stories to air. The BBC‟s coverage of this series of events was generally impartial. There were, however, points where coverage could have been fuller in various geographical areas at different times. Some countries had little coverage, others could have been followed up more fully and there could have been fuller examination of the different voices which made up the opposition to various incumbent governments. In addition a broader range of international reaction could have been covered. This review has been helped by clear, open communication with the Executive, with management and journalists examining their past decisions self-critically and with the benefit of hindsight and sharing their views with Edward Mortimer. The Trust expects that the well evidenced points made by Edward Mortimer on the coverage of individual countries and areas will be considered by the News Division and will shape future coverage in this and other parts of the world. The Trust welcomes the Executive‟s proposal to include a stand back item at the News Editorial Board and the intention to look at the strategic guidance the Middle East Editor can offer. The question as to how much coverage BBC One bulletins (with their unique audience reach) should provide to give context and cover stories which are not necessarily high profile is one which the News Editorial Board will wish to explore. June 2012 1 A BBC Trust report on the impartiality and accuracy of the BBC‟s coverage of the events known as the “Arab Spring” The Trust welcomes the Executive‟s recognition that the BBC could have made better use of references to the website within broadcast items for those interested in more information or background, and encourages its use in particular on those outlets which attract younger audiences. In order to safeguard audiences‟ trust, the BBC should consider how it might better share more effectively with the audience the rigorous vetting process to which all User Generated Content (UGC) is subjected. The Trust will welcome an update from the Director of BBC News in the autumn of 2012. Context The BBC Agreement1 requires the BBC to give information about and increase understanding of the world through accurate and impartial news, other information and analysis of current events and ideas. The BBC has set itself the challenge of providing the best journalism in the world. One of the ways the BBC tests whether its journalism lives up to this high ideal is by reviews, commissioned by the BBC Trust, of the impartiality and accuracy of the BBC‟s output. As such, the Trust has pursued a series of impartiality reviews: this is the fourth that the Trust has carried out since it was established in 2007. Previous reviews have examined coverage of business, the devolved nations and science. These reviews centre on an independent assessment of content from an expert lead author, drawing on specially commissioned research, and provided to the Trust in order to help form its own conclusions. The Trust has carried out this review in order to examine the impartiality of the BBC‟s coverage of the events known as the “Arab Spring”. The review examined coverage on BBC national TV and radio, online content, and BBC World News (the BBC‟s commercial international news service) beginning with events in Tunisia in December 2010 and, following on from that, most notably in Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Syria and Yemen. As well as the authored report by Edward Mortimer, the review also included content analysis and audience research. The content analysis was undertaken by Loughborough University and can be found here: (http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/our_work/editorial_standards/impartiality/arab_spring.ht ml). It covered 44 days of output between December 2010 and January 2012, including an analysis of 16 days across a range of broadcasters (Nov-Jan 2011/12). The qualitative audience research was carried out by Jigsaw Research and can be found here: (http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/our_work/editorial_standards/impartiality/arab_spring.ht ml). It took place across the UK in January 2012 and incorporated ten focus groups who were asked about how impartiality and accuracy are judged by the audience, what factors affect their views on coverage and whether the BBC‟s coverage was perceived to be accessible, accurate and partial or impartial. 1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/governance/regulatory_framework/charter_agreement.html June 2012 2 A BBC Trust report on the impartiality and accuracy of the BBC‟s coverage of the events known as the “Arab Spring” Summary of the findings by Edward Mortimer In his report, Edward Mortimer noted that the BBC‟s Editorial Guidelines require it “to provide a broad range of subject matter and perspectives over an appropriate timeframe across our output as a whole”, and assessed impartiality on this basis, as well as the diversity of opinion included and the professional detachment of BBC reporting. Besides listening to, viewing and reading BBC output he interviewed over 40 BBC journalists and executives as well as a number of experts. Edward Mortimer was impressed by the range of much of the coverage. He was positive about the coverage of the 18 days of protest leading to the fall of President Mubarak in Egypt; the maintenance of a presence on both sides in Libya; and the coverage of Tunisia. He noted the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was not side-lined. However, despite positive comments on the coverage of all the following countries he also expressed concern about the drop in coverage of Egypt after President Mubarak‟s fall; the delay in covering human rights abuses by rebel forces in Libya; the lack of context in early coverage of Bahrain and later sporadic coverage of the country; lack of context in the television coverage of Syria such as the composition of the opposition and the impact of events on regional stability and minorities; and a fall-off in coverage of Yemen, Algeria, Morocco and Jordan. In particular he was concerned about the small amount of coverage of Saudi Arabia. Whilst recognising the way the BBC spreads different aspects of coverage across its various outlets and the difficulty of covering all the various news stories that emerged at this time he considered some television bulletins lacked context. Edward Mortimer also was concerned that the content analysis had picked up minimal coverage of reactions to the “Arab Spring” in countries outside the region, other than Britain, the US and France – including major powers like Russia and China as well as emerging ones such as Brazil, India and South Africa. He also noted that the content analysis showed fewer than might be expected cross references to BBC online and a lack of reference to the authentication of User Generated Content (UGC) such as mobile phone footage.