It is estimated that as a result [of the proposed cuts] there will be a 30 million drop in the World Service’s weekly audience from 180 million people to 150 million people worldwide.
The Archbishop said:
“The BBC World Service output is much loved and respected across the globe. Not only is it the gold standard for international affairs coverage, it has a unique ability to reach into a variety of situations overseas ”“ often where democratic values and basic human rights are not being upheld.
“Just look at the way the World Service has been covering the protests in Egypt, or the way it reports natural disasters or war. There is no-one else providing the same level of insight for a global audience.
I have already begun to notice the decline in quality of the BBC World Service. It used to be second to none. Al Jazeera English is way better these days.
Oh, so that’s what an archbishop does for a living. Comment on the scheduling of nationally funded radio broadcasts. It clarifies things. Fortunately everything is fine in his church.
#3 Yes, it is what the ABY does, and I am glad he does. The BBC World Service does a very important job in bringing news in their own language to people in countries with a restricted press:
BBC Persian Service – broadcasting to Iran
BBC Mandarin Service – broadcasting to China
BBC Vietnamese Service – broadcasting to Vietnam
Why don’t they listen in English one may ask? Well, often it is only the rulers of those countries and the controlling elite who speak English. Foreign language broadcasting allows ordinary people in those countries to hear what their rulers may be restricting them from knowing. Perhaps the Archbishop listened to the World Service himself in the period when he was about to be imprisoned in Idi Amin’s Uganda.
Remember this?
http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2004/10/bbc-reporter-cries-for-yassir-arafat.html
Good riddance!