Earlier this year, there was a rallying cry to save the British Broadcasting Corporation. Facing government pressure for change and financial cuts – similar to those by the Canadian Broadcast Corporation – the BBC and its listeners feared changes to the esteemed service which reaches 140 million regular listeners.
Politicians debated BBC’s continued existence, and people discussed what impact this would have on international news coverage. This summer, however, a Los Angeles Times story focused on how the BBC is expanding its coverage, particularly of global news, under executive director Tony Hall:
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“Challenging disinterest in foreign news among viewers and readers, advertisers and corporate managers since the end of the Cold War, Hall is extending BBC news horizons: more news bureaus, a web site, a growing TV news channel …
“By year’s end, he expects that BBC World Television, a 24-hour news and information channel already seen in 174 countries, will make its commercial American debut.”
Said Hall: “At a time when most of our futures are decidedly globally, the readership of our newspapers and the audiences of our broadcast programs appear to be less interested in the world. And journalism, in response, seems less interested, more introspective, too. This should be of major concern to anybody who is interested in good, intelligent media.”
The BBC World Service website’s strategy is to be the leading international radio broadcaster.
“Modest investments needed will be essential in order to remain competitive,” says the site, hoping to reach the public who fund it.
With public broadcasting here under financial scrutiny, CBC must be carefully monitoring this overseas attitude and direction.
