75 years of World Service
- 10 Dec 07, 02:30 PM
Seventy five years ago this week the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s first director general, Lord Reith, launched what was then called the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s Empire Service with these words:
"Radio is an instrument of almost incalculable importance in the social and political life of the community. Its influence will more and more be felt in the daily life of the individual, in almost every sphere of human activity, in affairs national and international… It has been our resolve that the great possibilities and influences of the medium should be exploited to the highest human advantage… The service as a whole is dedicated to the best interests of mankind."
When he spoke, radio was a relatively new technology, much as the internet is today. In the 75 years since, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ World Service, as it is now called, has attempted to live up to the high aspirations behind its launch.
It is no longer focused on Empire or Commonwealth of course. Its purpose today is to connect Britain and the world with a modern, genuinely international, service of high quality news and information. Global broadcasting is undergoing unprecedented growth with new international channels opening almost every month - , , , from Iran and many more.
So it is an achievement that today more than 180 million people each week listen to the World Service - the highest audiences there have ever been - and tell us it is still the most trusted international news service anywhere.
That's testament to the extent the service has developed during its lifetime. During World War II, "London Calling" was the iconic station identification - highly valued by audiences across Europe. Today, we have interactive discussion programmes like World Have Your Say, taking calls, texts, e-mails and letters from people in regions as disparate as Chennai and California, Kampala and Kuala Lumpur. Globalisation and international issues from terrorism to climate change, from failed states to economics and trade, to sport and entertainment link countries and cultures more than ever before.
The programmes are available in 33 languages including English, on traditional short wave, re-broadcast on FM stations around the world, on the internet, with sites in all 33 languages, and from 2008, on television in Arabic and Farsi.
To mark the 75th anniversary, there is a season of programmes about free speech debating the principles behind freedom of speech, looking at how news is produced, and discussing how international media can connect people around the world.
A , released today, shows that opinion around the world is divided on free speech. While an average of 56% across all countries think that freedom of the press is important to ensure a free society, 40% believe that controlling what is reported may sometimes be necessary for the greater good. Of the countries where press freedom is most highly valued, Western developed countries are more critical of how honestly and accurately the news is reported. This suggests that the broadcasting of news and information around the world is as important - and contentious - today as it has ever been.
Richard Sambrook is director, Global News
The reason why it was commissioned is simple: audience research revealed that while ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ News remains extremely popular, it could do more to attract younger audiences and what the Americans call "blue collar workers". We discovered many people in these groups found traditional news programmes didn't speak to them and would prefer a different approach.
Many of the articles have claimed this is an example of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ "dumbing down" - I believe this is wrong for a number of reasons:
