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");
?>