BBC inversion on Iran’s military exercises
On Sunday 22 November, Iran began holding large-scale military exercises, simulating its response to potential military strikes on its nuclear sites. The story was covered in 'Iran war games to defend nuclear sites', an article on BBC News Online. While the article stated that the pretext for these exercises was that the ‘US and Israel have not ruled out the prospect of a military attack to prevent Iran developing nuclear bombs', no context was offered for why the US or Israel might decide to take such a course of action. In particular, no reference was made to the repeated threats Iran’s President has made towards Israel.
Instead, the article drew a contrast between critics of the Iranian regime’s nuclear programme, who argue that it ‘is intended to produce nuclear weapons’, and Iran, which ‘insists its programme is peaceful.’ By including several quotes from Iranian military figures giving details of their defence strategies, the article represents Iran’s military stance as strictly defensive. No insight into why critics of the nuclear programme regard it as dangerous is offered.
In past correspondence with Just Journalism, a BBC representative noted that ‘in dealing with any controversial matter we're required to give a fair and balanced report.’ However, arguing that fairness and balance may not be apparent in every article, the BBC representative also stated that, ‘Account also needs to be taken of the way a subject is covered over a period of time; perfect balance is difficult to achieve on every single occasion while overall it's a more achievable goal.’
Yet a review of the BBC content linked to on the article page of 'Iran war games to defend nuclear sites' (a wide range of articles dating back to April 2008) does not reveal any reference to the Iranian President’s repeated belligerency towards Israel, or the perceived threat it poses to Arab Gulf states.
Across the 'Key Stories', 'Analysis and Background' and the 'Iran's nuclear sites' sub-sections, only 'Q & A: Iran and the nuclear issue' mentioned Israel's fears that it could be the target of a nuclear attack, noting that 'Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu constantly stresses what he sees as a potential existential threat from Iran.' However, no explanation was given for why he might hold this position, and this statement appeared in a section entitled 'What are the chances of an attack on Iran?' thereby framing the discussion in terms of the threat Israel poses to Iran, not the inverse.
Despite the BBC’s stated goal of balance ‘over a period of time’, it is noteworthy that a visitor to BBC News Online could read extensively about the Iranian nuclear issue without seeing any explicit mention of Iran’s belligerency – a key element of the present controversy.
26 November 2009