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We live in a world where disinformation flows ever more freely across social platforms. State actors, who do not always share our news values, are investing heavily in digital media and channels, spending billions of pounds. Add to this a new threat – the distortion of news by generative AI search engine assistants. Groundbreaking ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ research found that 51% of all AI answers to questions about the news were judged to have significant issues of some form. Against this backdrop, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ News is a powerful fighting force for truth.

And in an increasingly authoritarian world, with media freedom under growing threat, the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½’s brave journalists across the globe, reporting fearlessly and fairly, have a more important role than ever.

Impartial news that is fair and trusted to take no sides is a vital part of any thriving democracy – and, to go further, we believe that it is a fundamental human right.

This is why the pursuit of truth, with no agenda, is the very first of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½’s stated priorities. It is our North Star.

This pursuit takes many forms – digitally, on audio and on video, and in 42 languages around the world. From instantaneous reporting on breaking news to hard-hitting documentaries which are months in the making. From our headquarters in London to our 70 news bureaux around the globe. From TikTok to the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ News at Ten.

Be in no doubt that our journalists are fearless – from Steve Rosenberg at the Kremlin press conference to Barbara Plett Usher in Khartoum to our Burmese service journalists during the recent deadly earthquake.

And they are also fair. Impartial news is our promise to the UK and to wider audiences around the world – and audiences are responding to that promise. Through a year of often challenging news stories, our UK impartiality scores rose by five percentage points.

In Their Own Words

Gary O’Donoghue

Chief North America Correspondent, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ News

Gary was broadcasting live from a Trump rally in Pennsylvania when a gunman opened fire on the presidential candidate.

Listening to Donald Trump speak from our live spot just outside his rally, the sound of gunfire was unmistakable. We hit the deck. And then I realised we could no longer hear Trump speaking.

As his supporters streamed out, we grabbed and interviewed them, piecing together the story live on-air for the next five hours. Most knew the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ and trusted us enough to tell us what they had seen. Some did not appreciate our presence, like the man who tried to take us off air by standing between me and my cameraman.

One man who did speak was Greg Smith, who my producer Iona Hampson brought across, with an extraordinary story to tell about how he had seen the gunman crawling across a roof, and tried in vain to warn the security services. It went viral, seen millions of times on X alone, and was picked up by every American network.

The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ is making great strides in building its audiences in the US, and it’s this kind of journalism that’s helping us to do that.

Chris Cook

Design Director – ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Media Operations (London)

Chris directed the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ 2024 election night coverage, watched by over 19 million.

When Rishi Sunak stood in Downing Street in the rain and called the election we knew we had six weeks! We worked day and night with all teams from results, engineering and design to create a modern election programme. I’ve directed two General Election programmes now and as the director you are at the centre of the hurricane – trying to remain calm and considered and trusting each member of the team to do their job. Of course we rehearsed, but nothing gets the pulse rate beating like that moment when Big Ben strikes ten!

I can’t tell you the pride you get watching the crowds gather outside Broadcasting House to see the exit poll projected on the front and watching massive groups gathering at election parties in the hours after. 

Knowing that what you are doing at that single moment in time is being consumed by millions around the country is something only the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ can do.

Baroness Helic

House of Lords

Baroness Helic is a former special adviser to the Foreign Secretary.

In a world shaped by disinformation, division and conflict, from the wars in Ukraine and Gaza to displacement in Sudan, challenges in the Balkans and violence in eastern DRC, the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ remains a rare and trusted voice. Its commitment to facts and impartiality still matters.

Each week, 453 million people, one in every 18 people globally, turn to the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½. In places where press freedom is under threat and propaganda dominates, that kind of independent reporting is more than news. It is a connection to the wider world.

As someone who has spent much of my life working on foreign policy and international affairs, and who calls London home, the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ World Service is still my station of choice. It reports to the world, but also about the world, with clarity and purpose.

This is public service journalism at its best: principled, trusted and needed.