BBC's Arab Spring coverage was "sporadic"

Kofi Annan's former Director of Communications criticises reporting.

By Press Gazette Published 26 June 2012

Egypt elects new President following Arab Spring. Photo: Getty Images

The BBC's coverage of the Arab Spring ignored events in some countries that were forgotten in the rush to concentrate on "big" stories, according to a new report.

Edward Mortimer, a journalist and former director of communications for United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan, reviewed the corporation's coverage across television, radio and online.

His criticisms come as the BBC's embarks on a Delivering Quality First cost-saving review which it has said will see it focus on "doing fewer things better".

2 comments

Wed, 2012-06-27 23:03 — joe hill (not verified)

there are no good options for government in the Arab world. You can either have pscycotically violent secular military dictatorship, or psychotically violent Islamocrazy dictatorship. Those are the choicess. The UK channels a few months back wer sending gushing reports of the heroic resistance fighters in Libya: who tortured and executed prisoners, murdered hundreds of sub saharan Africans and desecrated British war graves within minutes of coming to power. If and when the "Free Syrian Army" takes over, they will murder every Alawaite, every Christian and whichever few Jews are stupid enogh to be still living there. It may be that assad's thugs murderd these people. It is also entirely possible that they were murdered by the other side for propaganda purposes. There are no good guys in the Arab world. None. Johnny Wog's idea of government is just one long episode of Macbeth.