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A review of the impartiality of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's coverage of the events known as the 'Arab Spring', has today been launched by the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Trust.

It is the latest in a series of reviews that assess the impartiality of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's output. The review will be led by Edward Mortimer, Senior Vice President of the Salzburg Global Seminar, former UN Director of Communications and expert in Middle East affairs.

The review will look at the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's coverage beginning with events in Tunisia in December 2010 and, following on from that, most notably in Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Syria and Yemen. It will look at coverage on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ national TV and radio, online content, and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World News.

Alison Hastings, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Trustee and Chair of the Trust's Editorial Standards Committee, said:

"The events that came to be known as the Arab Spring were extremely fast-moving and complex. That makes it a difficult story to cover. The challenge for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ, as with all controversial areas, is to ensure that it maintains the high standards of impartiality and accuracy that audiences expect, both in the UK and around the world, where many rely on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's international news services.

"We are delighted that Edward Mortimer has agreed to lead this important review for the Trust – his distinguished record, and expertise, in both Middle East issues and journalism, will be a great asset."

Edward Mortimer said:

"I am honoured and excited by this assignment. Events in the Middle East during 2011 up-ended many widely accepted notions about the region. Such stories are always the most exciting for journalists to cover, but also present many challenges. It will be fascinating to examine in detail how the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ rose to these."

The review will include content analysis, interviews with interested parties, and audience research. The findings will be published in autumn 2012.

The formal terms of reference for the review can be found below.

Notes to Editors

1. This is the fourth impartiality review carried out by the Trust. Previous impartiality reviews have looked at the coverage of business (2007); network news and current affairs coverage of the UK nations (2008) and science (2011).
2. This review will include coverage on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ national TV and radio, online content, and World News, which is the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's commercially funded international 24-hour news channel. It will not include content from the World Service.
3. Edward Mortimer is the Senior Vice President and Chief Program Officer of the Salzburg Global Seminar (an independent non-profit organisation that holds seminars on economics, politics and other issues for emerging leaders from many different geographical and professional backgrounds). Previously he was head of the Speech Writing Unit and Director of Communications in the office of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He has spent much of his career as a journalist, first with The Times where he developed an expertise in Middle East affairs, and later with the Financial Times as the main commentator and columnist on foreign affairs. His book, Faith and Power: the Politics of Islam, was hailed by The Economist as essential reading for understanding the post-9/11 world. Mr. Mortimer also wrote "European Security after the Cold War" (1992), and co-edited People, Nation and State: The Meaning of Ethnicity and Nationalism (1999). He has served as a fellow and faculty at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Oxford University, and the University of Warwick; and on the governing bodies of Chatham House, the Institute of War and Peace Reporting, the John Stuart Mill Institute, Minority Rights Group International, and the Agence France-Presse Foundation. In 2010-11, on behalf of the Group of Eminent Persons appointed by the Council of Europe, he drafted the report "Living together: Combining diversity and freedom in 21st-century Europe". Mr. Mortimer was educated at Oxford University, where he studied history. In the 2010 New Year Honours he was named a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for services to international communication and journalism.