UK terrestrial coverage of new international stories in developing countries has declined since 1989, a report has revealed.

The figures also show that the BBC has fallen behind ITV in the amount of hours it dedicates to international stories in 2010, while only Channel 4 has improved its commitment to global-interest programming.

The International Broadcasting Trust and University of East Anglia report found that the BBC broadcast nearly half the number of hours ITV did on stories relating to developing countries. The BBC produced 16.7 hours, compared to ITV’s 29.7 hours.

The report has also criticised UK broadcasters for offering too narrow a range of international stories in 2010, and has explicitly called out on broadcasters’ failure to prepare viewers for the ‘Arab Springs’ uprisings in early 2011.

However, despite the failings of mainstream terrestrial broadcasters, the report praises the role digital TV channels, such as BBC3, have taken in promoting international stories. “In 2010,” says the report, “BBC3, BBC4 and More4 all had record amounts of new international factual programming.”

Despite the report praising broadcasters for some “remarkable international programmes”, it claims that the future of international content in the UK is “far from certain”.

The report highlights a lack of coverage for countries such as North Africa and the Middle East, despite “recent dramatic political changes in the region”, and also expresses concern that countries facing political uprisings – Bahrain, Libya and Yemen – were not the main focus of a single factual programme.

The report points out that broadcasters are failing to embrace new social media outlets as a way to engage audiences with programming that may not directly affect them. “Producers need to consider how they can make better and more imaginative use of online content to enhance the impact of international programmes and in particular give viewers more opportunities to take action.”

Link: Outside the Box report, courtest of the International Broadcasting Trust (.pdf)

(Source: MediaGuardian)

Photo taken by Flickr user Al Jazeera English, licensed under Creative Commons.

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