"Nearly a century later, the BBC World Service, as it is now known, broadcasts in 43 languages, reaches 313 million people a week and is one of the UK's most influential cultural assets. It is also a lifeline for millions. Perhaps Britain's greatest gift to the world in the 20th century, as Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary general, once put it."
"But this week Tim Davie, the corporation's director general, announced that the World Service will run out of funding in just seven weeks. Most of its 400m budget comes from the licence fee, although the Foreign Office which funded it entirely until 2014 contributed 137m in the last year. The funding arrangement with the Foreign Office finishes at the end of March. There is no plan for what happens next."
BBC World Service broadcasts in 43 languages to 313 million weekly listeners and serves as an influential cultural asset and lifeline for many. Tim Davie announced that the World Service will exhaust funding in seven weeks; the 400m budget relies mainly on the licence fee while the Foreign Office contributed 137m last year but its funding ends at the end of March with no replacement plan. State-funded media from Russia and China are expanding, and US outlets face cuts. The World Service provides alternative international news, counters parochialism, and delivers lifesaving broadcasts such as Persian shortwave during Iran's internet blackout.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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