BBC World Service
BBC World Service

Author: Gordon Johnston

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2019-11-14

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 1137318554

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This book is the first full-length history of the BBC World Service: from its interwar launch as short-wave radio broadcasts for the British Empire, to its twenty-first-century incarnation as the multi-media global platform of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The book provides insights into the BBC’s working relationship with the Foreign Office, the early years of the Empire Service, and the role of the BBC during the Second World War. In following the voice of the BBC through the Cold War and the contraction of the British empire, the book argues that debates about the work and purposes of the World Service have always involved deliberations about the future of the UK and its place in the world. In current times, these debates have been shaped by the British government’s commitment to leave the European Union and the centrifugal currents in British politics which in the longer term threaten the integrity of the United Kingdom. Through a detailed exploration of its past, the book poses questions about the World Service’s possible future and argues that, for the BBC, the question is not only what it means to be a global broadcaster as we enter the third decade of the twenty-first century, but what it means to be a national broadcaster in a divided kingdom.

A BBC for the Future
A BBC for the Future

Author: Great Britain: Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Publisher:

Published: 2016-05-12

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 9781474131674

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With correction slip dated June 2016. Dated May 2016 Web ISBN=9781474131681

The implications of cuts to the BBC World Service
The implications of cuts to the BBC World Service

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2011-04-13

Total Pages: 94

ISBN-13: 9780215559227

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The Foreign Affairs Committee believes the BBC World Service is of such value to the nation that its income should be ring-fenced against spending cuts. The Service has suffered a disproportionate reduction in its future Grant-in-Aid under the spending review settlement, by comparison with that of the 'core FCO': allowing for inflation, 16% as against 10% across the four years 2010-11 to 2014-15. High-level discussions between the Government and the BBC about a transfer of funding responsibility started only nine days before the formal announcement of the change. The report says that the decision to reduce World Service spending by 16% during the 2010 spending review period should be reversed, and resources made available for it to continue its operations at roughly the 2010-11 level of staffing and output. If the Service's funding is reduced in spite of this recommendation, the committee urges for damage limitation with an unreduced BBC Hindi and BBC China Mandarin shortwave service, and enhanced resources to BBC Arabic as required by the recent and continuing political developments in the region. Some of the activity of the World Service contributes to the wider aims of the Department for International Development, and a transfer of just 0.35% of DFID's resource budget over the next three years would compensate for the proposed 16% reduction in World Service funding. There is no reason why such a transfer should not be made if the political will to carry it out is present.

House of Commons - Foreign Affairs Committee: The Future of the BBC World Service - HC 1045
House of Commons - Foreign Affairs Committee: The Future of the BBC World Service - HC 1045

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2014-03-31

Total Pages: 20

ISBN-13: 9780215070548

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In this report, published on the last day that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has funding responsibility for the World Service, the Foreign Affairs Committee says that it has "clear differences" with the BBC on new arrangements for governance of the World Service. It specifically has reservations about the move to licence fee funding for the World Service and what that would mean for the World Service's budget, and its ability to be heard amongst all the other competing voices within the BBC. The Committee regrets that the World Service now has no direct voice on either the BBC Executive Board or the Management Board, and it says that it "remains to be seen" whether representation of the World Service's interests at Board level by the Director of News and Current Affairs will indeed safeguard the distinct nature of the World Service. The Committee welcomes the assurance given in evidence by James Harding, the BBC's Director of News and Current Affairs, that the £245 million budget for the World Service in 2014-15 will be used as a baseline for the following two years. But what is really needed is longer-term protection at institutional level, and we continue to be concerned about the absence of a direct voice for the World Service on either the BBC's Executive Board or the Management Board

A Future for Public Service Television
A Future for Public Service Television

Author: Des Freedman

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2018-05-04

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 1906897719

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A guide to the nature, purpose, and place of public service television within a multi-platform, multichannel ecology. Television is on the verge of both decline and rebirth. Vast technological change has brought about financial uncertainty as well as new creative possibilities for producers, distributors, and viewers. This volume from Goldsmiths Press examines not only the unexpected resilience of TV as cultural pastime and aesthetic practice but also the prospects for public service television in a digital, multichannel ecology. The proliferation of platforms from Amazon and Netflix to YouTube and the vlogosphere means intense competition for audiences traditionally dominated by legacy broadcasters. Public service broadcasters—whether the BBC, the German ARD, or the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation—are particularly vulnerable to this volatility. Born in the more stable political and cultural conditions of the twentieth century, they face a range of pressures on their revenue, their remits, and indeed their very futures. This book reflects on the issues raised in Lord Puttnam's 2016 Public Service TV Inquiry Report, with contributions from leading broadcasters, academics, and regulators. With resonance for students, professionals, and consumers with a stake in British media, it serves both as historical record and as a look at the future of television in an on-demand age. Contributors include Tess Alps, Patrick Barwise, James Bennett, Georgie Born, Natasha Cox, Gunn Enli, Des Freedman, Vana Goblot, David Hendy, Jennifer Holt, Amanda D. Lotz, Sarita Malik, Matthew Powers, Lord Puttnam, Trine Syvertsen, Jon Thoday, Mark Thompson

The BBC
The BBC

Author: Tom Mills

Publisher: Verso Books

Published: 2020-10-13

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1784784834

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The BBC: the mouthpiece of the Establishment? The BBC is one of the most important institutions in Britain; it is also one of the most misunderstood. Despite its claim to be independent and impartial, and the constant accusations of a liberal bias, the BBC has always sided with the elite. As Tom Mills demonstrates, we are only getting the news that the Establishment wants aired in public. Throughout its existence, the BBC has been in thrall to those in power. This was true in 1926 when it stood against the workers during the General Strike, and since then the Corporation has continued to mute the voices of those who oppose the status quo: miners in 1984; anti-war protesters in 2003; those who offer alternatives to austerity economics since 2008. From the outset much of its activity has been scrutinised by the secret services at the invitation of those in charge. Since the 1990s the BBC has been integrated into the market, while its independence from government and big business has been steadily eroded. The BBC is an important and timely examination of a crucial public institution that is constantly under threat.