24 June 2004
The BBC is responding to listeners’ demand for better radio reception by expanding its medium wave transmissions to India. BBC World Service programmes in Hindi and English will now be available to listeners in India on 576 KHz medium wave, daily from 10.00pm to 11.30pm Indian Standard Time (IST). The transmissions will cover North West Bihar and a large area of Uttar Pradesh. Head of BBC Hindi, Achala Sharma welcomed the launch of an additional medium wave frequency for the late evening Hindi programme Aajkal broadcast daily from 10.30pm to 11.00pm IST.
According to new audience figures released on 21 June, BBC World Service remains the world’s leading international radio broadcaster with a weekly global audience estimate of 146 million. Independent surveys in top markets also showed that the BBC World Service is the most trusted and objective international broadcaster when compared to its main radio competitors in each market.
The new global audience estimate indicates a drop of 4 million radio listeners compared to 2003’s global audience estimate of 150 million. This figure takes account of a significant drop in short wave radio listening year-on-year that has been partially offset by a big rise in listening via the higher quality audibility of FM. BBC World Service is now available on FM in 139 capital cities around 72 per cent of the world’s total.
Moreover BBC World Service also extended its reach with rapid growth in online usage, particularly among younger audiences. The sites attracted 279 million monthly page impressions in March 2004, this equates to over 16 million unique users a month. This is a rise equivalent to eight million new monthly users of the BBC’s international news sites during the 13 months between February 2003 and March 2004.
24 June 2004
The BBC is planning an Arabic-language television channel that will be on the air 24 hours a day throughout the Middle East. Speaking before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the UK parliament on 22 June, BBC World Service Acting Director Nigel Chapman said the proposed channel’s mix of news, discussion programmes and documentaries would address what he described as “the dramatically changed media landscape in the Middle East”.
The plans have been included in the British Foreign Office’s 2004 Spending Review which goes before the British Treasury for approval. The BBC is seeking an additional 28 million pounds to fund the channel, according to reports in the London ‘Financial Times’. BBC World Service radio is funded by the UK government through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office while BBC World television is an entirely commercial venture.
BBC World Service Television ran an Arabic service that was carried on Orbit, the Middle East satellite bouquet, for a number of years until it closed in 1996 following pressure from the Saudi Arabian government.
In February, Al Hurra (the Free One) was launched from the United States, operated by Middle East Television Network, funded through the Broadcasting Board of Governors (a Member of the AIB). The station is an attempt to put across US policy in the Middle East to Arabic-speaking television viewers in the region. Al Jazeera television – also an AIB Member – operating out of Qatar, has gained significant audiences throughout the Gulf region, along with other channels like Al Arabiya – operated by MBC TV in Dubai.
24 June 2004
Germanys international broadcaster Deutsche Welle is forging ahead with a technical revolution in broadcasting that is promising to make listening to the radio much easier and more pleasurable – digital short wave transmissions. With the new digital technology, radio stations will retain the same national and international reach as with their conventional AM short and medium wave broadcasts, but listeners will benefit from near-FM quality sound and additional data services. The new digital system DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) will take the crackle, interference and hiss out of international broadcasting so it can compete for listeners on equal terms with domestic services.
DW’s Director of Marketing and Engineering, Peter Senger, heads the 25-nation DRM consortium spearheading the introduction of the new technology. He said that there is now “no alternative to digital broadcasting” and the DRM standard offered “a bit rate that could supply near FM quality”. DRM would also be cheaper that conventional AM, saving between 40% and 60% in transmitter costs. DRM can also be used to transmit text messages and pictures, and it can pack several radio channels into the same frequency, offering the listener a far greater choice
of programmes.
DW will start weekly DRM broadcasts from 5 July 2004 ( 6140 KHz, 7125 KHz; 16.00 – 19.00 UTC).
24 June 2004
On 23 June the BBC published in full the findings and recommendations of the Neil Report. The review group was set up in February 2004 by the then Acting Director-General Mark Byford to identify the editorial lessons from Lord Hutton’s Inquiry and Report. It was led by the BBC’s former Director of News and Current Affairs Ronald Neil and included a former Editor of ITN and BBC editorial executives.
The independent panel’s recommendations will be implemented in full by BBC managers, editors and journalists and will be incorporated into the BBC Producers’ Guidelines. The Neil Report will become required reading for all current and future BBC journalists, their managers and Governors.
The Report lays out recommendations and guidelines to strengthen BBC journalism in the future. Clearly stating the core values of BBC journalism, the Report emphasises the importance of continuous training, and of learning from both existing best practice and from the specific circumstances around the broadcast which led to the Hutton Inquiry last year. The Report’s most ambitious recommendation is that the BBC should establish a college of journalism under the leadership of an academic principal.
Announcing the publication of the Report, BBC Director-General Mark Thompson said: “The BBC does not have the public’s trust as of right; it has to earn and maintain it. The Neil Report will enable us to do this, highlighting what we do well and what we could do better. It is a template for strengthening BBC journalism in the future and I have asked Mark Byford, Deputy Director-General, to oversee the immediate implementation of the Report’s recommendations in full.”
The Report concludes that:
The BBC should continue to report stories based on a single source but “only where the story is one of significant public interest and the correct procedures have been followed”.
Audience should be given “as much accurate information as is compatible with protecting the identity of the source” and descriptions should be consistent.
Stories from anonymous sources should have greater editorial scrutiny within the BBC.
As BBC News has 10 times as many journalists than a national newspaper, broadcasting 120 hours of output a day, editors are the day-to-day custodians of the BBC’s journalistic values.
Accurate and reliable note-taking should be part of all BBC journalists’ training.
The need to demonstrate fairness, openness and straight dealing in the BBC’s journalism is paramount.
Live “two ways” are still an important part of modern broadcasting but that they are normally inappropriate for breaking stories containing serious and potentially defamatory allegations.
Editorial lawyers should be a routine fixture in the main news areas.
A day earlier (22 June), on his first day at the BBC, the new Director-General Mark Thompson outlined a restructuring of the BBC’s Executive Committee, and announced reviews into its commercial businesses, production and commissioning, and how to increase efficiencies and control costs. He is intent on making the structure of the BBC simpler, more effective and more able to adapt and change by cutting the main decision-making board in half (members would be reduced from 16 to nine) and setting up three new boards to oversee the corporation’s creative output, its commercial activities and its journalism.
Thompson will chair a cross media Creative Board made up of all divisions that drive the BBC’s creative work. Alan Yentob, currently Director of Drama, Entertainment and CBBC, will also become the BBC’s Creative Director. Mark Byford remains as deputy Director General, and he will also head two of the three new boards. Byford is brought in above the director of news, Richard Sambrook, to chair the journalism board, which brings the national, regional and World Service news organisations under the same umbrella for the first time. Finance Director John Smith will chair the third board, covering the BBC’s commercial businesses, giving greater strategic clarity and realising economic and creative potential. He will also take on the new role of Chief Operating Officer (COO), taking charge of all the BBC’s commercial and resourcing subsidiaries, as well as leading its Finance and Property departments. A fourth major strand of work will be led by Caroline Thomson, currently Director of Policy and Legal, who becomes Director of Charter Renewal, reporting to both the Director-General and the BBC Chairman.
On 29 June the BBC will publish its first public contribution to the Government’s review of the BBC Charter. This document will set out a vision for the BBC’s future based around building public value.
24 June 2004
Peter Murimi’s news feature Walk to Womanhood about the female circumcision rituals of the Kuria Tribe in Kenya won both the Arts & Culture Award as well as being judged the best overall journalistic story out of 465 entries from 30 countries around the Continent. The Awards were presented in Johannesburg on 19 June. Camerapix was Executive Producer of this compelling story which brought together the talents of 4 alumni of The Mohamed Amin Foundation’s Television Training Centre — Pete Murimi (Director), Mujo Musinde (Script & Narration), Philip Murungi (Editor) and Andrew Mungai (Camera).
This award going to a graduate of The Mohamed Amin Foundation brings full circle the dream of the Legendary photo-journalist, the late Mohamed “MO” Amin, who was a co-founder of the African Journalist Awards along with Global Media Alliance Managing Director, Edward Boateng of Ghana. Their goal, through these awards, was to encourage and promote young African journalists to tell the African story in order to reflect the African perspective.
To make these stories internationally acceptable, Mo realised that professional training was imperative. In Mo’s last public speech at State House, Nairobi in 1996, his appeal for this training was made public: “…we need the support and commitment of the international media and donor community to establishing a professional training centre. A place where young Africans can learn the skills and techniques that will enable them to continue in the tradition of courage and truth.” The Mohamed Amin Foundation was founded in memory of Mo Amin and remains dedicated to making this training a reality. The Foundation continues to struggle to raise funds in order to continue to deliver and expand its training, giving more opportunities to other young, talented African journalists.
