Bias in BBC headlines and lead text

The BBC know that most people who visit their news website look at the headlines to see what's going on in the world and actually click on very few stories. With this in mind they slant the headlines and lead text accordingly.

Today on the "Middle East" page we have the main headline and lead text:

"Israeli Gaza City raid kills 18
Eighteen Palestinians, including 13 militants, die in an Israeli raid in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip."


The second story has a headline and lead text of:
"Four killed in Beirut explosion
Four Lebanese bystanders die in a bomb blast targeting an American embassy vehicle in Beirut, US officials say."


Interesting how in the first piece the deaths are quoted as facts, whilst in the second the deaths are just what US officials say.

If you click into the first stort the lead text now reads "At least 18 Palestinians, including at least 13 militants, have died in an Israeli raid in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, reports say."

It is only a screen of viewing down, because the BBC know that most people who click on a story just read the first few lines or first screens worth before moving on, that we discover that "The raid began when an Israeli undercover army unit targeted a house in the Zeitoun area used to launch rockets at Israel, but the Israelis were spotted by Palestinian gunmen who opened fire." The BBC will, if challenged, say that we put the justification in the article (and indeed they did) but far enough down that most people don't read it.


The BBC proud to denigrate Israel as often as possible. It all helps the partnerships with Arab media organisations.