A report compiled by the International Broadcasting Trust and University of East Anglia has found that the quantity of factual reporting on developing countries shown on BBC1 fell behind that of commercial rival ITV1 in 2010.
The number crunchers concluded that BBC1 had aired a total of 16.7 hours of material on the subject matter over the 12 months, significantly less than the 29.7 hours put in by ITV1. Outside the Box went on to identify a paucity of factual programming being given to viewers on life in North Africa and the Middle East – putting UK viewers at a disadvantage when digesting the Arab Spring. Martin Scott, the report's author, said: “BBC1's output is now almost exclusively domestic outside news and current affairs.” For its part the BBC defended its record, pointing out that much more foreign programming was shown on its sister channels; BBC2, BBC3 & BBC4.
