The UK Parliament’s Culture Media and Sport committee has released a report on the BBC. This contains important suggestions for the BBC World Service.

I am copying below what they have to say. But this is their key concern, in the context of a global media war:

“Given its new funding and oversight arrangements, we fear the importance of the World Service could be diminished.”

Martin

The World Service

  1. The World Service’s position as a reliable, respected foreign and English language news service continues at home and overseas; both the Foreign Affairs Committee and the House of Lords ad hoc Committee on Soft Power and UK influence have recognised the BBC’s strength in promoting British values and the UK positively overseas. While the World Service’s role remains vitally important, it is the case that states such as Russia and China are now investing far more in their global channels than the BBC.70 Last year the BBC World Service had a global audience of 191 million, up from 181 million in 2007.71 Even though its traditional radio audiences have declined in part owing to several shortwave signals being switched off, its now established foreign language television channels are growing. Nearly 60 million viewers watched either the BBC Arabic or Farsi television services on a weekly basis in 2013/14.
  2. Several changes have occurred in the last few years. Since April 2014, the World Service stopped being funded through grant-in-aid by the Foreign Office and its costs are now met by the licence fee. The Service has left its old home at Bush House and co-located with the BBC News division in Broadcasting House, which is enabling savings to be made. A more recent change is that the new director of the World Service will combine this position with that of being the deputy director of BBC News and Current Affairs.
  3. We are concerned that combining the role of the BBC deputy director of news with that of the director of the World Service will dilute the influence and the independent voice of the World Service within the BBC, as the Service will no longer have a leader dedicated solely to developing and representing its interests. Given its new funding and oversight arrangements, we fear the importance of the World Service could be diminished. The extent to which the World Service’s needs will be met from within the BBC must be monitored very carefully in the new Parliament. At a time when countries like Russia and China are significantly increasing their investment in global media outlets, including services aimed at the UK, we believe that the World Service has an increasingly important role in what is a global information war.

 

Conclusions and recommendations

BBC World Service

  1. We are concerned that combining the role of the BBC deputy director of news with that of the director of the World Service will dilute the influence and the independent voice of the World Service within the BBC, as the Service will no longer have a leader dedicated solely to developing and representing its interests. Given its new funding and oversight arrangements, we fear the importance of the World Service could be diminished. The extent to which the World Service’s needs will be met from within the BBC must be monitored very carefully in the new Parliament. At a time when countries like Russia and China are significantly increasing their investment in global media outlets, including services aimed at the UK, we believe that the World Service has an increasingly important role in what is a global information war. (Paragraph 62)