The BBC World Service
179. The BBC World Service has made a substantial
investment in broadcasting to the countries of the region. Each
country receives a dedicated broadcasting service, ranging from
thirty minutes daily in Turkmenistan to just under four hours
daily to Georgia.[418]
The World Service broadcasts throughout Central Asia and the South
Caucasus on short wave (SW). It currently has arrangements to
rebroadcast its programming on medium wave (MW) in Azerbaijan
and the Kyrgyz Republic, and on FM in Yerevan, Baku, Tbilisi and
Bishkek.[419]
Between thirty minutes and two hours of programming is broadcast
daily in the Turkic languages of Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Azeri and Uzbek,
as well as programming for Tajikistan in Persian. In addition
to its general broadcasts to the region on short wave in English
and Russian, the World Service also provides specially-produced
Russian programming and rebroadcasts English programmes on local
frequencies. It is able to facilitate contacts between the United
Kingdom and the region, and to provide links with other institutions
which serve to promote good governance, democratic development
and civil society.[420]
180. Our witnesses universally welcomed the involvement
of the World Service in the region. Mr Hyman praised the "bold
initiative" it had taken to broadcast to the region in many
of the local languages of the region in addition to Russian and
English.[421]
Dr Herzig told us that the broadcasts of the World Service had
a particular impact in areas where press freedom was limited or
where it was economically difficult to develop an independent
media: "many in the region praise the quality and impartiality
of the Central Asia service."[422]
Mr Sammut said that the World Service had made an "excellent
contribution to the flow of information" throughout the South
Caucasus, and praised its use of rebroadcasting facilities on
medium-wave with local partners.[423]
Mr Adams, of Monument Oil and Gas, said that the World Service
was "one of the most important things that we do internationally";
President Aliev of Azerbaijan and President Shevardnadze of Georgia
were known to listen to it.[424]
181. The World Service does not yet broadcast in
Georgian or Armenian. We understand that the decision not to introduce
Georgian or Armenian services was made on the assumption that
most opinion-formers in those countries speak Russian and have
sufficient access to the World Service's broadcasts to the South
Caucasus in that language. However, we heard from a number of
our witnesses that the use of the Georgian and Armenian languages
is on the increase and that Russian is not the language of communication
it once was. In the Georgian case this stems from a decision in
1989 to discontinue the teaching of Russian in schools. Dr Herzig
and Mr Sammut both told us of the need to expand the language
services to include Georgian, and Dr Herzig additionally recommended
a further expansion to cover Armenian.[425]
We fully recognise the case for this, not least because of the
unwelcome message which the World Service risks sending to the
region in continuing to broadcast solely in the Russian language.
182. While in principle the decision to provide programming
in national languages is to be applauded, we are concerned that
in the case of some languages the decision may need reassessment
in the light of the development of these languages. Despite the
Kazakhstan Government's attempts to promote the usage of spoken
Kazakh, we understand that the language of opinion-formers is
principally Russian, whereas Kazakh is principally spoken in rural
areas where the World Service has little broadcasting reach. If
services are to be established in Georgian and Armenian, it is
arguable that savings could be made in a reassessment of the World
Service's broadcasting needs in other national languages. We
believe that in principle the BBC World Service should seek to
ensure that World Service programming reaches as wide an audience
as possible. To that end we recommend that the World Service establish
services in Georgian and Armenian.
183. The quality of the World Service's programming
is evident by the attentionnot always favourablepaid
by governments to its broadcasts. In Uzbekistan a rebroadcasting
arrangement with the Ministry of Communications to broadcast World
Service programming on a small medium-wave transmitter network
was terminated in December 1998, ostensibly because the network
was required by the state broadcaster for a new programming strand.[426]
World Service programming is now restricted to short-wave transmission,
which is far less accessible to the population at large. Nevertheless,
many Uzbeks did manage to seek out the World Service reporting
of the February bombings in Tashkent.[427]
We understand the matter has been repeatedly raised by the Government,
and we ourselves raised it with the Uzbek Government when we visited.
We recommend that the Government continue to press the Government
of Uzbekistan to reinstate BBC World Service access to medium
wave transmitting facilities.
184. We were encouraged to note the positive contacts
between the World Service and a number of embassies in the region.
The World Service told us that the Ambassador in Uzbekistan had
worked to support and protect BBC staff in Tashkent and to lobby
the Uzbek Government on the rebroadcasting issue. However, we
are disturbed to note that there have been few contacts between
the World Service and the British Embassies in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan
and Armenia.[428]
There is realistically little chance of the World Service being
able to operate freely in Turkmenistan. The World Service told
us that the licensing environment for radio was unstable in Kazakhstan
and that it was difficult to find good rebroadcasting partners.
We believe the British Embassy in Almaty could actively assist
here.
185. We believe that it is important that World
Service programming be as widely received as possible. We recommend
that the Government work with the World Service to seek to lift
broadcasting restrictions where they exist. We also recommend
that the World Service seek to work as closely as possible with
Embassies throughout the region in order to secure adequate rebroadcasting
facilities.
BBC Monitoring
186. BBC World Service Monitoring has established
two information-gathering bureaux in the region: the Central Asia
unit, based in Tashkent, was opened in 1994 and the Caucasus unit,
based in Baku, in 1997.[429]
During our visits we were able to view the work of the Central
Asia unit and to meet the director of the Caucasus unit. Both
units gather and translate information from public media sources,
including the press, news agencies, television, radio and, where
available, the Internet. In addition to monitoring media output
in the five Central Asian republics, the Central Asia unit also
covers relevant media output from Iran. Since April 1998 it has
taken on responsibility for monitoring the Afghan media, and scans
Taleban and opposition radio broadcasts. The information gathered
by regional units is translated and collated before being fed
to BBC Monitoring's offices at Caversham Park. From there it is
made available to the service's main subscribers, the BBC and
the FCO. The material is also accessible via the Parliamentary
Intranet and the House of Commons Library. A number of UK-based
businesses operating in the region also subscribe. We applaud
the timely decision to open BBC World Service monitoring bureaux
in Baku and Tashkent. We believe these bureaux are invaluable
in providing detailed information from the local media to the
Government, the House and the BBC.
383 Evidence p. 80, paragraph 12. Back
384
Appendix 23, Evidence p. 180. Back
385
Q122. Back
386
Q119. Back
387
Appendix 27, Evidence p. 189. Back
388
Appendix 26, Evidence p. 187. Back
389
Appendix 25, Evidence p. 183. Back
390
Appendix 20, Evidence p. 176. Back
391
Q256. Back
392
See Appendix 30, Evidence p. 195. Back
393 Appendix
23, Evidence p. 180. Back
394
Evidence p. 68. Back
395
Q164. Back
396
Q257. Back
397
See paragraphs 32 to 42 of Fifth Report, Session 1998-99, HC 271. Back
398
Appendix 3, Evidence p. 113. Back
399
Appendix 6, Evidence p. 125. Back
400
QQ88-90. Back
401
Q147. Back
402
Evidence p. 69; Appendix 30, Evidence p. 195. Back
403
Appendix 3, Evidence p. 113, paragraph 4. Back
404
Appendix 3, Evidence p. 114, paragraph 9. Back
405
Appendix 3, Evidence p. 114, paragraphs 10 and 12. Back
406
QQ131, 133. Back
407
Appendix 3, Evidence p. 114, paragraph 4. Back
408
Appendix 3, Evidence pp. 115-117, paragraphs 13-26. Back
409
Q266. Back
410
Evidence p. 170. Back
411
Q262. Back
412
Q266. Back
413
QQ262-3. Back
414
Q266. Back
415
Appendix 3, Evidence p. 8, paragraph 8. Back
416
Evidence p. 79, paragraph 5. Back
417
Fifth Report from the Foreign Affairs Committee, Session 1998-99,
HC 271, paragraph 42. Back
418
For further details of the World Service's broadcasting provision,
see Appendix 39, Evidence pp. 230-231. Back
419
Appendix 18, Evidence p. 172. Back
420
Appendix 18, Evidence p. 173. Back
421
Q4. Back
422
Q9; Evidence p. 3. Back
423
Evidence p. 24; Q86. Back
424
Q131. Back
425
Evidence pp. 3 and 24. Back
426
Appendix 18, Evidence p. 172. Back
427
Appendix 18, Evidence p. 173. Back
428
Appendix 39, Evidence p. 232. Back
429
See Appendices 18 and 19, Evidence pp. 174-175. Back