Page 25 - AIB | The Chanel | Issue 1 2013

FOCUS | THE CHANNEL
economic changes, the investment
thatʹs happening, on the
technologies that are being
developed and the vitality and
positivity that Africa has.
Has the competition for local
rebroadcasting slots increased?
One of the biggest challenges we
face is that some of our
competitors, including the Chinese,
pay their way to get those slots on
both radio and TV. Thatʹs not the
BBCʹs approach, wherever possible
weʹll try and do it on commercial
terms, i.e. we are being paid for the
content we are providing rather
than the other way round. What
was interesting though was that
when we launched our TV
programmes in English and Swahili
we started with a relatively small
number of partners but very
quickly a number of other partners
wanted to come on board because
the buzz that was created about the
BBC investing in TV for Africa
showed that there is an appetite for
audiences to come to BBC content.
Do the emerging local stations
mean competition?
In many cases those stations that
could be competitors can also be
partners as well. So as well as some
of those organizations taking our
syndicated content, one of the things
that we are working closely with
them on is partnership content
arrangements, whereby stories that
they are doing can be included in
the BBCʹs broadcasts. Thatʹs one of
the clear messages that I would like to
get across that the BBC is absolutely
open for partnership and we want
to be working hand in glove with
people who we have got distribution
arrangements with. Also through
BBC Media Action, which used to
be the World Service Trust, we are
working proactively with media
organizations, local radio etc.
So for instance in Kenya in the
run‐up to the forthcoming general
elections in March, we are
working very closely with local
partners to produce both radio and
TV programmes, are providing
substantial training and co‐
production funding to produce
high quality political discussion
programmes, and are making a real
contribution to the local creative
economy.
Of course, audiences want
relevant content, so when we are
covering global stories on the
Swahili service we make them
relevant for African audiences. But
our audience is bound to be
broader than for local news
organizations. What the BBC can
do is to provide more of a regional
dimension and make global stories
relevant to audiences in different
parts of Africa. I would have liked
us to have got some of these TV
services launched a little bit earlier
but the strong audience reaction
that we are getting to those services
shows that there is absolutely an
appetite for them. We are now up
and running and we have got plans
to expand further.
How is BBC responding to the switch
in news consumption across Africa?
As well as our own BBC online sites
and mobile offers, all of our
services have Facebook pages and
Twitter. Itʹs actually the day‐to‐day
dialogue with audiences and their
interaction with our programmes
and our presenters directly through
Facebook and Twitter that helps us
with our journalism. There are
many times when they are
providing us with stories or
comments that enable us to do our
journalism effectively.
We have a global daily discussion
programme ʹWorld Have Your Sayʹ
which often tackles subjects relevant
to audiences in Africa. Audiences
engage very directly with us – they
also tell us when they think that the
BBC is not getting it right in terms
of its coverage of Africa, and we
listen to that and respond to that.
We hear from our audiences every
day, and every day we sit down
and look at our online statistics and
see what people have been clicking
on and which stories they are
responding to.
Which other markets are key?
Iʹd say that for the commercial
services, BBC World News and
bbc.com, Asia‐Pacific is absolutely
key ‐ the whole of Asia‐Pacific is
just such a vibrant area. We have
invested in journalism in Singapore
in particular where we now have
presentation teams to present
jointly with London for the Asian
morning, and weʹll be continuing
further investment.
Asia is a place where we can
achieve further commercial growth,
itʹs the part of the world thatʹs most
important for us to develop our
journalism. The BBC has always
had a strong relationship in Africa,
the BBC has been strong in India
and the sub‐continent, but China,
East Asia, South East Asia, the tilt
towards that part of the world is
significant ‐ including some
countries that you may not have
considered only a short time ago.
Burma for instance is opening up
rapidly. Since 1 January of this year
BBC World News, BBC
Entertainment, CBeebies and BBC
World Service in English are
available in Burma – thatʹs a really
exciting development. And BBC
Media Action has agreed training
programmes for journalists in the
state and commercial sector in
Burma. So by using all the BBCʹs
different arms and assets we can
enhance our strength in those parts
of the world.
What about China?
It is outrageous for a country which
clearly wants to have an open
economic trading relationship with
the rest of the world and uses the
internet to conduct commerce to
block and filter the internet and
block and censor international
news broadcasters. The BBCʹs radio
We
are devel-
oping
bilingual
journalism
– reports
with video
content
are shared
between
Swahili and
English
“
”
▼
THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 1 2013 | 25
▼ KomlaDumor,
Presenter, Focus
on Africa