Women: a new radio show from BBC News Afghan

29 June 2022

Women: a new radio show from BBC News Afghan

BBC News Afghanistan in Pashto and Dari has launched a weekly radio programme, Women (Mermen in Pashto, and Zan in Dari). The 30-minute show will go on air at 19:00 Kabul Time in Dari and at 20:00 in Pashto (14:30 and 15:30 GMT) every Friday.

Presented by Shazia Haya in Pashto and Aalia Farzan in Dari, the programme is aimed at women and girls – especially those in rural areas – in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Alongside offering them a platform to voice their views and questions, the new show will also deliver content that informs and educates, empowering the listeners to make informed decisions and choices.

The programme, which talks about women’s rights, healthcare, education, household economy, parenting, children’s health, as well as entertainment, sports and politics, opens with women-focused news from around the world. It discusses with experts the week’s main subject item and includes permanent slots on motherhood and childcare; inspiring stories about successful women from Afghanistan and around the world; and an arts & culture section dedicated to latest works by female writers, artists and musicians.

Shazia Haya and Aalia Farzan are BBC journalists who moved to the UK following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Shazia says: “This programme for me means giving a voice to the voiceless. I hope Mermen will help empower the Afghan women to have better lives – and I feel really privileged to be part of such a journey.”

Aalia adds: “I want our new radio show, Zan, to serve as a window to every Afghan woman’s home. A window which opens every week to bring her the kind of knowledge that is really useful for her, and also to invite her to speak out about the things that worry or frustrate her.”

The new radio programme will be available via FM and shortwave frequencies across Afghanistan and will be available on demand via the websites bbc.com/pashto and bbc.com/persian/afghanistan, and the BBC News Pashto and BBC News Dari channels on Facebook.

BBC News Afghanistan service in Dari and Pashto is part of BBC World Service.

BBC to drop and combine channels, focus on digital future

26 May 2022

BBC to drop and combine channels, focus on digital future

The BBC has set out the blueprint to build a digital-first public service media organisation.

In a speech to staff on Thursday 26 May 2022, Director-General Tim Davie said the BBC must reform to stay relevant and continue to provide great value for all.

This will include changes to content and services, efficiency savings and a drive to seek new commercial investment, as the BBC manages the demands of the licence fee settlement (every UK household owning a TV set and watching live broadcasts must hold a TV licence) and looks to the future.

The broadcaster will adapt to compete and succeed in a busy, global market, while staying faithful to the values that have underpinned it for a century.

It will change in step with the modern world, giving audiences the content they want and delivering it to them in the ways they want it.

The plan focuses on creating a modern, digital-led and streamlined organisation that drives the most value from the licence fee and delivers more for audiences.

This first phase represents £500m of annual savings and reinvestment to make the BBC digital-led.

As part of this, £200m will contribute to the £285m annual funding gap by 2027/28, created by the licence fee settlement earlier this year. The remaining funding gap will be covered in the final three years of this Charter period, which is consistent with previous savings programmes.

The BBC will also reinvest £300m to drive a digital-first approach, through changes to content and output and additional commercial income. This includes:

Shifting significant amounts of money into new programmes for iPlayer which will also attract extra third-party investment on screen
Shifting resources in local output towards digital, while keeping spend flat
Making savings in broadcast news, reinvesting that in video and digital news
Investing up to £50m a year in product development.

Overall, there will be up to 1,000 fewer people employed in the public-funded part of the BBC over the next few years.

Detailed plans and budgets will be set out as normal in future Annual Plans and Annual Reports and Accounts.

Director-General Tim Davie told staff: “When I took this job I said that we needed to fight for something important: public service content and services, freely available universally, for the good of all.

“This fight is intensifying, the stakes are high.”

Examples of future changes announced today include:

The creation of a single, 24-hour TV news channel serving UK and international audiences, called BBC News, offering greater amounts of shared content, but maintaining the ability to offer separate broadcasts depending on what’s happening at home and abroad;
Plans to stop broadcasting smaller linear channels, such as CBBC and BBC Four and Radio 4 Extra, after the next few years;
Ongoing work to strip out any unnecessary bureaucracy, reduce running costs and simplify ways of working to free up time;
Plans to stop scheduling separate content for Radio 4 Long Wave, consulting with partners, including the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, ahead of the closure of the Long Wave platform itself;
Shifting a number of World Service languages to be digital only;
An ambition to reach 75% of BBC viewers through iPlayer each week;
Reviewing commercial options for audio production;
New on-demand content and formats for news and current affairs;
Requesting Ofcom to remove regulatory restrictions on iPlayer to expand boxsets and archive content;
Bigger investment in programming from the nations and regions across the UK;
Investment in an enhanced news and current affairs offer for iPlayer and Sounds, with new video formats, simulcasts and podcasts;
Changes in local radio and regional news to ensure high-quality, distinctive BBC local journalism is available every day when and where audiences want it;
Plans to accelerate digital growth in audio and drive listeners to BBC Sounds, simplifying schedules and cancelling shows that do not deliver;
Further investment in data to ensure comprehensive, real-time data that supports growth of digital products and services.

Speaking to staff, Mr Davie said: “This is our moment to build a digital-first BBC. Something genuinely new, a Reithian organisation for the digital age, a positive force for the UK and the world.

“Independent, impartial, constantly innovating and serving all. A fresh, new, global digital media organisation which has never been seen before.

“Driven by the desire to make life and society better for our licence fee payers and customers in every corner of the UK and beyond. They want us to keep the BBC relevant and fight for something that in 2022 is more important than ever.

“To do that we need to evolve faster and embrace the huge shifts in the market around us.”

Work will start immediately, with further details to be announced in the coming months, including consultations with staff.

Mr Davie added: “I believe in a public service BBC for all, properly funded, relevant for everyone, universally available, and growing in the on-demand age. This plan sets us on that journey.”

BBC publishes results of deprivation study

28 April 2022

BBC publishes results of deprivation study

The BBC has published the full findings of a “deprivation study” in which 80 homes had no access to any BBC content or services for nine days.

The results suggest many of those taking part underestimated the value their household gets from the BBC.

The study, conducted by research company MTM on behalf of the BBC, found that 70% of those who initially said they would rather do without the BBC, or would prefer to pay less for it, changed their minds and were willing to pay the full licence fee or more in order to keep BBC content and services.

Just under 200 people, based in 16 different locations in the UK and with a mix of views about the BBC, took part.

This study produced a near identical result to one conducted in 2014/2015 despite significant changes in the media market in the last seven years and a significant increase in global competition from other broadcasters, subscription services and platforms.

Since 2014 23 mainstream content streamers have launched, with a total of 38 now available to UK audiences.

BBC Director-General Tim Davie says: “It is great to see the role the BBC plays in people’s lives up and down the UK and it not only shows the importance of public service broadcasting it reinforces that we must continue the hard work to maintain that support and ensure we offer something for everyone.”

The new research focused primarily on licence-fee paying households who felt the BBC was of no or little value to them.

Of the 80 households involved, 30 initially said they wanted to pay nothing and not receive the BBC and another 30 only wanted to pay less than the full licence fee. A control group of 20 who were willing to pay the full licence fee was also included.

Households varied in size, age range and background and included singles, couples, young and older families, and shared homes.

They were unable to access any BBC services, across TV, radio, online and apps, for nine days, covering two full weekends. They were also not permitted to watch any BBC content available on other services such as Netflix or YouTube. In return they received the cost of the licence fee for those days, which works out at about £3.90.

On completing the study 42 of the 60 households, or 70%, who initially wanted to either pay nothing or less said they were willing to pay the full licence fee or more in return for the BBC.

Reasons for changing views included a realisation that they had underestimated the value their households get from the BBC and the amount of BBC content and services they consumed in their daily lives. This included missing out on high-profile dramas, event TV and live sport that brings the country together; missing CBeebies and CBBC; missing BBC iPlayer; missing the BBC radio stations/Sounds that they listened to; and missing BBC online services.

Other factors were an increased understanding of the variety of services the licence fee pays for; the high quality of content; missing content without advertising; and greater recognition of the cultural and societal role of the BBC in UK life.

In 2014 when the first study was started 21.5 million adults used the internet/social media for news, that compares to 39.2 million today, while 4.8 million UK households had access to SVOD services, compared to 20 million today.

The full report is available here.

BBC files UN complaint about online violence towards women journalists of BBC News Persian

23 March 2022

BBC files UN complaint about online violence towards women journalists of BBC News Persian

The BBC World Service has filed a new urgent appeal to the United Nations (UN) against Iran over the online violence faced by women journalists working for BBC News Persian.

The appeal was lodged on 23 March as women journalists at BBC News Persian continue to face daily, relentless online attacks and harassment, including threats of rape and death.

The complaint addresses the current risks to women journalists working for BBC News Persian.

Examples of the online violence and harassment they face include:

Threats of rape and death directed at women journalists and their families in the UK and in Iran
Gendered attacks on their credibility as journalists in both state media and online in Iran, including false and defamatory stories about their personal lives, their relationships with contributors and what they wear, aimed at discrediting the women of BBC News Persian staff among their friends and family – and the broader public – by accusing them of sexual indecencies
Hacking and phishing of personal information, emails and photos, which later appear online with false stories about their personal lives, which are used in the interrogation of their family members in Iran

A report by UNESCO in the last year shows online violence towards women is having a chilling effect on women’s reporting and adverse effects on their mental health. UN Experts highlight the extent of online violence towards women journalists, which is pushing women offline and undermining their ability to do their work as journalists, describing it as “gendered censorship”.

Interviews with BBC News Persian staff show that many women journalists:

Opt out of using social media as a journalistic tool in fear of harassment
Self-censor online, including removing themselves from social media, public spaces and other profile opportunities
Suffer significant and serious mental and physical health issues, including anxiety, anxiety attacks, psychological trauma and depression, requiring therapy and medical intervention

The appeal from the BBC World Service calls on Iran to take action in respect of those responsible for the online violence towards women journalists, by investigating and prosecuting them.

Liliane Landor, Senior Controller of BBC International News and Director of World Service says: “We absolutely deplore the violent, misogynistic and gendered harassment our women journalists have to face every day.

“Trusted and impartial journalism is fundamental to any democracy and it is only by working together that we can ensure the safety of journalists everywhere and ensure women’s voices are included. We have to be able to work unhindered, free from threats and free from abuse.”

International counsel for the BBC World Service, Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC and Jennifer Robinson say: “Women journalists at BBC News Persian face abhorrent online violence every day simply because they are doing their job. This is a paradigm case of what UN experts call “gendered censorship”. Misogynist, sexist online abuse and all threats of physical or sexual violence towards journalists are intended to force women offline and to silence women journalists. It is unacceptable and it must stop.

“Iran has international obligations of due diligence to take action against those responsible. We call on the UN to condemn the attacks and to ensure Iran meets its international obligations.”

Paul Siegert, the NUJ’s national broadcasting organiser, says: “We fully support this campaign in calling for more to be done to stop the appalling online abuse that many women working for BBC News Persian have experienced.

“Iran must do more to stop and prosecute the people responsible. It’s truly chilling when you hear about some of the threats that women journalists are exposed to on a regularly basis and the NUJ joins with the BBC and calls on the UN to condemn this unacceptable behaviour.”

The appalling examples of the gendered attacks on BBC women journalists include:

Fake stories stating that a BBC News Persian presenter had been raped by a colleague known to Iranian audiences and a fake photo blog showing her with her “illegitimate child”. Later, her father was interrogated by authorities, where officers told him she had hidden it from her family because she was embarrassed about having been raped by a colleague.
A blog was created under the name of a presenter, writing about her purportedly polygamous and lavish sexual life in London and using selected hacked photos from her Facebook page to make the blog look authentic. This story was picked up by a national newspaper in Iran.
A presenter was photoshopped into a pornographic image which was sent to her 14-year old son in London. This was particularly threatening in that it demonstrated they knew where he went to school.

BBC temporarily suspends work of journalists in Russia

4 March 2022

BBC temporarily suspends work of journalists in Russia

In an unprecedented move, the BBC has announced that it is temporarily suspending the work of its journalists in Russia.

It follows the approval of a law in the lower chamber of the Russian parliament that allows the imposition of jail sentences up to 15 years for those convicted of spreading “fake” information.

Reacting to new legislation passed by the Russian authorities, BBC Director-General Tim Davie says:

“This legislation appears to criminalise the process of independent journalism. It leaves us no other option than to temporarily suspend the work of all BBC News journalists and their support staff within the Russian Federation while we assess the full implications of this unwelcome development.

“Our BBC News service in Russian will continue to operate from outside Russia.

“The safety of our staff is paramount and we are not prepared to expose them to the risk of criminal prosecution simply for doing their jobs. I’d like to pay tribute to all of them, for their bravery, determination and professionalism.

“We remain committed to making accurate, independent information available to audiences around the world, including the millions of Russians who use our news services. Our journalists in Ukraine and around the world will continue to report on the invasion of Ukraine.”

Picture: BBC Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg reporting on the closure of Ekho Moskvy radio