BBC World Service announces more journalism to come from Africa as part of global changes

18 November 2025

BBC World Service announces more journalism to come from Africa as part of global changes

BBC World Service has announced a series of programme changes as part of a commitment to move more programmes and services closer to the audiences and communities they serve.

BBC World Service’s global news programme Newsday will establish a team in Kenya, co-presenting from London and Nairobi, while its leading Africa-focused news podcast Focus on Africa will relocate from London to join the TV production team in Nairobi.

Newsday is the BBC World Service’s flagship news programme, bringing audiences the latest news, analysis and reporting from across the globe. Airing every weekday, Newsday covers major global stories as they unfold, with live interviews, features, and reporting from correspondents in the field.

Anne Soy will co-present Newsday from Nairobi, alongside established presenters Rob Young and James Copnall, based in London.

Newsday will launch its new co-presentation format on Monday 1 December.

Anne Soy, Newsday presenter, says:

“I am absolutely delighted to be joining the BBC Newsday team. It is a privilege to contribute to a programme with such a strong reputation for trusted, high-quality journalism that connects audiences across Africa and around the world. As Newsday strengthens its presence in the region, I look forward to helping tell the stories that matter most to our audiences.”

With over 20 years of on-air experience, Anne Soy has reported extensively across the continent, covering major stories including conflicts, health crises, and political transitions. Joining the BBC in 2013, Anne has worked as a bi-lingual reporter for Focus on Africa and has experience of working in a number of roles at the BBC, most recently Senior Africa Correspondent and Deputy Africa Editor.

Audiences can listen to Newsday on BBC World Service radio, BBC Sounds in the UK, and outside the UK on BBC.com, the BBC app, and wherever they get their BBC podcasts.

The relaunch of the Focus on Africa podcast and the transfer of operations to Nairobi, forms part of the BBC’s commitment to the independent, impartial and trustworthy journalism it offers millions across Africa.

Focus on Africa is the BBC’s leading African news podcast and brings listeners the biggest stories from across the continent.

The Focus on Africa podcast will release episodes daily, with a special visualised episode released every Friday. Lead presenter Nkechi Ogbonna will host an in-depth conversation, delving into a new topic each week, which will be visualised for the BBC News Africa YouTube channel.

The flagship Focus on Africa TV programme, presented by Waihiga Mwaura, will retain its core identity but will undergo a clear editorial refresh in formats and digital-first content, alongside a full production move to Nairobi. It will continue to provide trusted news coverage to audiences across the continent and beyond.

The team bringing this vision to life comprises a diverse mix of experienced, multiskilled, and award-winning journalists from across the continent, with Nairobi and Lagos serving as key production hubs for both the TV programme and the podcast.

The new format will launch on Tuesday 2 December. Audiences can listen to the Focus on Africa podcast on BBC World Service radio, BBC News Africa YouTube channel, BBC Sounds, BBC.com, the BBC app, and wherever they get their BBC podcasts.

Juliet Njeri, BBC’s Regional Director for Africa, says: “These changes are pivotal to our trusted news offer for audiences across the African continent and around the world. We are investing in regional storytelling and putting African voices at the heart of our output.

“The BBC reaches around 120 million people every week across Africa. As we seek to bring more of the BBC’s independent news to more people, we want to be closer to our listeners and viewers to deliver relevant and impactful programming.”

Nkechi Ogbonna, Focus on Africa presenter, says: “Focus on Africa has been a trusted source of news for listeners across Africa, including underdeveloped and rural communities, giving global audiences fresh perspectives on the people, politics, and culture shaping Africa. As we move our operations to Nairobi, we will strive to be ever more connected to our audiences in the region and beyond, while strengthening our editorial reach and trust in the BBC.”

These moves complement changes announced earlier this year as BBC News’ international operations are restructured, enhancing opportunities for audience growth and strengthening how the BBC operates outside the UK. Outside the UK, six regional directors will make the most of regional expertise and have a regional headquarters. The regions are: Africa, the Americas, Asia Pacific, Central and South Asia, Europe, and the Middle East and North Africa.

BBC World Service’s flagship arts show heads to Rome

31 October 2025

BBC World Service’s flagship arts show heads to Rome

The BBC World Service is bringing its flagship arts and culture programme, The Arts Hour on Tour, to Rome. The show, featuring live performances and interviews with leading creatives from the Italian capital, will be recorded on Wednesday 19 November 2025.

To discuss Italy’s – and Rome’s – cultural scene of today, the BBC’s Nikki Bedi will be joined on stage in front of an audience by a lineup of guests including director, filmmaker and composer, Margherita Vicario; singer-songwriter, Levante; rapper and singer Mecna; film writer and director, Paolo Strippoli; and stand-up comedian, Luca Ravenna.

Genre-defying music sensation and filmmaker, Margherita Vicario, will discuss the inspiration for her debut feature film Gloria!, which won her three David di Donatello awards this year. As director, co-writer and co-composer, Margherita Vicario blends classical and modern pop music in a story with a fresh feminist slant, hailed by critics at the 2024 Berlinale as “pop-fuelled period rebellion” and a “girl-power makeover”.

Live music performance will come from magnetic singer-songwriter Levante, whose raw emotional storytelling pulses with vulnerability and poetic grit. Born in Sicily and later rooted in Turin, Levante creates music that combines the emotional depth of her southern heritage with the urban edge of her northern experience, contrasting landscapes that also echo through her work as a novelist.

And there is live music from Mecna, rapper and singer-songwriter whose introspective lyrics and atmospheric soundscapes challenge the stereotypes of hip hop and R&B in Italy. As a headlining festival act, with chart topping singles and ten studio albums, often featuring his own graphic design, he is proud of making ‘Sad rap’, that he describes as “a way to understand the world”.

Film writer and director Paolo Strippoli’s visionary approach to horror has captivated audiences across Europe and beyond, in A Classic Horror Story and his visceral Piove (It’s Raining). His newly released film, La Valle Dei Sorrisi (The Holy Boy), which premiered at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, is a psychological, religious horror fable.

The Rome edition of The Arts Hour on Tour will bring live stand-up performance from comedian Luca Ravenna, whose cerebral humour has carved a unique path through Italian comedy. With sold-out tours across Italy and appearances on major platforms such as Netflix and Comedy Central, stand-up specials like Rodrigo Live and Luca Ravenna Live @, and his viral podcast Cachemire with co-host Edoardo Ferrario, Ravenna has become a defining voice of his comedic generation.

Recorded in English for the BBC World Service, The Arts Hour on Tour visits cities all over the world to explore their hottest cultural trends. By talking to the artists who live and work there, the programme promotes cultural exchange across the world.

Presenter Nikki Bedi says: “We are beyond excited to visit Rome for The Arts Hour on Tour. With its rich historic and cultural heritage, and abundance of art, Italy has so much to showcase. I’m certain it will be a jam-packed programme full of cultural delights. We look forward to recording with local talent in front of a live audience.”

The show will also be broadcast on BBC World Service to millions of listeners worldwide.

BBC World Service extends partnership with Zeno Media

24 October 2025

BBC World Service extends partnership with Zeno Media

BBC World Service has extended its partnership with Zeno Media to make BBC World Service and BBC News Hausa content available on Zeno’s global audio platform, Zeno.FM.

Through this collaboration, audiences around the world can now access BBC content for free, bringing trusted, independent journalism to listeners globally.

Audiences will be able to access BBC World Service English and BBC News Hausa audio streams on Zeno FM, featuring popular English-language programs such as The Newsroom, The Documentary and The Climate Question.

The BBC News Hausa current affairs programme, Shirin Yamma, will also be available, bringing listeners the latest global and regional news, and deep analysis, alongside listeners’ views.

With more than 40 million listeners globally, Zeno Media offers a powerful platform to extend the BBC’s trusted journalism to new audiences, particularly across Africa and South Asia, where Zeno has a strong and growing user base.

Ayesha Chowdhury, Senior Manager, Global Digital Partnerships Lead, BBC World Service, says: “We are excited to grow our partnership with Zeno, expanding our digital reach among English and Hausa-speaking audiences globally. This collaboration helps the BBC World Service engage young, digital listeners, and ensure our trusted journalism is accessible to audiences wherever they are in the world.”

Nikols Latuff, VP of Growth, Zeno Media, says: “Making quality content easily accessible to diaspora communities globally is an important piece to our global mission. We are proud to bring Zeno audiences an even wider selection of high-quality audio programming, now including BBC World Service content, for those who turn to Zeno for connection and trusted storytelling.”

Threats to BBC News Persian journalists continuing

2 June 2025

Threats to BBC News Persian journalists continuing

The BBC has issued this statement:

There has been a sharp and deeply troubling escalation in the persecution of BBC News Persian journalists in the UK and their families in Iran over recent months. This campaign of intimidation, orchestrated by the Iranian authorities, has intensified in both scale and severity.

BBC News Persian journalists – alongside other Iranian journalists based in the UK and around the world – face serious extraterritorial threats from the Iranian authorities. These threats have consistently extended to their families in Iran, who have been subjected to a sustained campaign of intimidation. However, the BBC is now witnessing a surge of arbitrary interrogations, travel bans, passport confiscations, threats of asset seizures directed at the family members of BBC News Persian journalists – marking a significant and increasingly alarming escalation.

Tim Davie, BBC Director-General, says: “In addition to enduring personal security threats from Iranian state actors operating beyond Iran’s borders, BBC News Persian journalists are now witnessing a disturbing rise in the persecution of their family members inside Iran. These acts are clearly designed to exploit family ties as a means of coercion – pressuring our journalists to abandon their work or return to Iran under false pretences.

“We call on the Iranian authorities to immediately cease this campaign of intimidation and to stop targeting journalists with violence, threats, and psychological warfare. This persecution is a direct assault on press freedom and human rights. It must end now.”

The BBC is preparing to lodge a new complaint with the UN Human Rights Council Special Procedures mandate-holders, calling on Iran to cease its campaign of persecution of BBC journalists and their families.

BBC World Service to launch new offer in Polish

22 May 2025

BBC World Service to launch new offer in Polish

BBC World Service is expanding its trusted news offer with the launch of a pilot Polish-language news website, BBC News Polska – bbc.com/polska, and its content on social channels.

Going live from Tuesday 24 June 2025, the website bbc.com/polska will deliver independent and impartial news in text and video for Polish-speaking audiences.

The new language offer will help counter a wave of disinformation in the region and provide news and analysis on areas audiences are seeking information on, including the ongoing wars and conflicts, health, climate change, and the cost of living. BBC News Polska content will be available via its social-media channels on Facebook and Instagram.

The pilot language initiative will come from existing budgets and will be reviewed throughout its first year of operation. The BBC World Service’s ability to respond to changing audience demands, launch further pilots and adapt to global challenges relies on the need for a long-term sustainable funding model.

BBC News Polska will be the first new language offer from the BBC World Service produced with the help of AI translation technology.

BBC News Polska will work innovatively to harness existing translation and transcription tools to bring the best of the BBC’s journalism to new audiences. The translation of BBC reporting will always have human editorial oversight and, where used, will be clearly labelled.

The curated content will complement regional angles and analysis produced by the team of Polish-speaking journalists. The platforms will also host content from BBC presenters Kasia Madera and Tomasz Schafernaker.

The launch of BBC News Polska sees the BBC World Service working in a new way with a small, efficient team delivering both the AI-assisted translation of curated BBC reporting and original journalism.

BBC News Polska will operate as a pilot. The BBC World Service has bold plans to pilot more non-English-language content where there is a demand for independent, impartial news as press freedom reduces globally and disinformation is rife.

Global Director and Deputy CEO, BBC News, Jonathan Munro, says:

“Today, as we face a storm of disinformation and ever-growing attacks on media freedom, democracy and regional security, BBC News Polska is a major step towards serving more audiences around the world with content they can trust. This is part of a strategy that would see the BBC’s global reach grow and advance the case for democratic values. But to do this, the BBC World Service would need a long-term sustainable funding arrangement to build on these foundations and to secure our global public service journalism for the future.”

Deputy Global Director, BBC News, Fiona Crack, adds:

“Launching BBC News Polska, we are bringing together the most effective practices of working responsibly and innovatively with AI to reach Polish-speakers with the best of the BBC’s global and regional journalism. Following successful trials and advances in translation services, we are able to launch a new offer alongside original stories and fresh angles from our excellent Polish-speaking team. We look forward to building an audience for whom this content will serve as a welcome and required source of trusted news and information.”

The BBC is the most recognised international news brand in Poland (source: BBC Impact and Influence 2025 study), reaching around 5.1m people every week in the country – around a fifth of the country’s adult population – with the BBC News TV channel, the BBC Studios global digital news platform BBC.com, as well as BBC World Service’s content in English and other languages.

BBC News Polska is the BBC’s first new language offer from the BBC since BBC News Serbian was announced in March 2017.

[Source: BBC]