For those who end up in my situation I discovered a major error in my code:
_FILE_ needs (2) underscores... __FILE__
<?php $path = dirname(_FILE_); **<--- Using (__FILE__) fixed this** include("{$path}/inc/bbc_news_reader.inc.php"); ?>
<?php $path = dirname(_FILE_); **<--- Using (__FILE__) fixed this** include("{$path}/inc/bbc_news_reader.inc.php"); ?>