Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Global News

• Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service forms an integral part of Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Global News – the division which manages all the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's international news services. Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Global News also contains Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World News – the international English-language news and information TV channel, the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's international-facing online news service bbc.com/news and the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Trust, a registered charity that is funded separately from Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service and uses media to aid development.
• Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World News and the international-facing online news service, bbc.com/news – attract a combined record global weekly audience of over 233 million, with some people using more than one service.

Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service facts

• Broadcasting in 32 languages, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service aims to be a global hub for high quality information, communication and entertainment. It is the best known and most respected voice in international broadcasting.
• Available on radio, online, and now on television including Arabic and Persian, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service aims to create a forum for the exchange of ideas across cultural, linguistic and national boundaries.
• At least 182 million people around the world listen each week to Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service's multilingual programmes which consist of news, information, education and entertainment.
• Independent market research consistently shows that listeners respect Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service for the accuracy, editorial independence and expertise of its journalism. It is the radio service most listened to by opinion formers around the world.
• Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service launched on 19 December 1932. Its role and contribution to the world have since been repeatedly endorsed by prominent world leaders. Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary-General, said in 1999, at the opening of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Washington DC news bureau: "Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service is perhaps Britain's greatest gift to the world this century."
• Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service produces around 1,200 hours of programming a week; that's over 65,400 hours a year.
• Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service is now available in 152 capital cities on FM; that's around 75% of the global total.
• Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service online sites attracted a record 286 million page impressions in September 2008, compared to 189.8 million in March 2007 – an increase of 37%.

Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service funding and independence

• The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ is established and operated under a Royal Charter to provide broadcast services in the UK and abroad.
• The Charter and Agreement sets out the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's public purposes and explicitly guarantees editorial and managerial independence from the British Government.
• The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ is accountable to the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Trust – a group of 12 prominent and independent people from different parts of British society.
• It is the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Trust's role to act as trustee for the public interest, at home and abroad. It oversees all Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ activities. The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Trust sets the Corporation's strategic direction and holds Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ management to account for its performance.
• The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Trust's prime responsibility is to ensure that the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ remains independent, resisting pressure and influence from all sources, including the British Government.
• Just like the rest of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service also operates under the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Royal Charter and is accountable to the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Trust. Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service's broadcasting costs are met by a separate parliamentary Grant-in-Aid through the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), totalling Β£265 million in 2008/9.
• The British Government funds Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service because it believes that the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's independent approach to journalism brings credit to Britain. This guarantee of independence is enshrined in the Broadcasting Agreement signed by the FCO and the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Trust.
• The Government believes that the global provision of high-quality journalism – which strives to be accurate, impartial, editorially independent, and balanced with the widest possible range of views about an issue – projects Britain's values of trustworthiness, openness, fair dealing, creativity, enterprise and community. It believes this promotes interest in Britain around the world.
• These goals are achievable because the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ is independent from any form of editorial control from government.

Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Director, Nigel Chapman, says: "Whenever I go abroad, the first question I am always asked is how the World Service can be funded by the British Government and remain editorially independent, and not be the Government's mouthpiece as with many other broadcasters funded by taxation.

"Since Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service's creation in 1932, successive British governments have recognised that an editorially independent Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service – rooted in British values of trust, fairness and impartiality – reflects better on Britain than a system where the broadcasting organisation is set up to promote a particular government view. We have been established to truly be a World Service for the world."

He continues: "The only discussions I have with the British Government are about 'where' and 'how' we broadcast, not the 'what'. That is to say we discuss the countries we broadcast to, and the technological means by which we are available to audiences in those countries.

"These are legitimate discussions to have with the British Government in the context of deciding how we use our finite funding. But we never ever discuss our editorial content. The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's editorial independence is non-negotiable.

"Nobody gets on the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's airwaves unless there are legitimate editorial reasons. Both the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ and the UK government are clear that the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ is not there to promote the views of the British Government or any other government, interest group or individual. It is there to provide impartial and independent journalism which takes account of and reflects all the relevant points of view about an issue."