Closure of the BBC World Service
in Uzbekistan
175. In November last year the World Service had
to suspend its operations in Uzbekistan owing to security concerns
and the "harassment" of its Uzbek staff.[318]
It closed its office in Tashkent and withdrew seven staff because
of intimidation by the Uzbek authorities. The Uzbek Government
had been cracking down on foreign journalists ever since their
reporting of government troops' suppression of an uprising in
Andizhan in May 2005.[319]
176. The World Service bureau in Tashkent handles
material for the Russian, Kyrgyz and Kazakh services as well as
for the domestic service. In a written note, the Service told
us that it remained committed to covering events in Uzbekistan,
and stated that the BBC English language correspondents would
continue to seek access to the country and to report on events
there as and when they are granted visas.[320]
During oral evidence, Nigel Chapman told us that all his Uzbek
staff had had to leave or resign from their positions for reasons
of personal safety.[321]
He said that the Service had raised the matter with Uzbek ambassador
in London, who had denied there was any problem.[322]
177. Nigel Chapman explained that the World Service
continued to provide radio services in Uzbek to the people of
Uzbekistan through short wave and medium wave distribution, but
that the degree to which the BBC could report events inside that
country was severely restricted. In November, Mr Chapman had no
confidence that the situation was going to get better quickly.[323]
178. We asked the World Service what pressure the
Foreign Office and FCO Ministers were putting on their opposite
numbers in Tashkent to ensure that the matter was righted as quickly
as possible.[324] The
BBC World Service believed that the British Embassy and Ambassador
in Tashkent had been "particularly helpful and supportive
since the start of the troubles."[325]
179. We conclude
that the security and safety of staff must always be a top priority
for the BBC World Service and we believe that it was right for
the BBC World Service to close its bureau in Tashkent owing to
the attacks and intimidation reported by its journalists last
year. We commend the actions taken so far by the Foreign Office
on behalf of the BBC and the World Service and recommend that
the FCO continue to make strong representations to the Government
of Uzbekistan. We further recommend that in its response to this
Report the FCO indicate whether there is any near-term prospect
of the World Service's bureau reopening in Uzbekistan.
Online services and new digital
interactive services
180. In its submission to our inquiry, the World
Service indicates a sizeable shift towards distribution via new
technology platforms.[326]
It wants to deliver broadband video news reports in vernacular
languages and make them available as downloads on PCs, mobiles
and other platforms.[327]
Its high priorities for video investment will be in Arabic, Persian
(Farsi), Portuguese (for Brazil), Russian and Spanish.
181. The World Service currently provides eight online
language services in Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Persian (Farsi),
Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Urdu. Last year, approximately
six and half million people a week used its online services.[328]
Monthly page impressions to the BBC's international news site,
including bbcnews.com, increased to 351 million in August
2005 from 284 million a year previously, an increase of 67 million.[329]
Nonetheless, in his statement in the 2004-05 annual report Nigel
Chapman noted that:
International traffic to the BBC's online services
grew to 324 million page impressions in March 2005, up from 279
million a year earlier. Although the annual increase was lower
than expected, the rise in the number of individual users was
higher, growing 29% from 16.6 million to 21.5 million.[330]
182. We were told that some of the BBC's international
internet services have found it more difficult to make an impact,
for example in China, where the Mandarin and English-language
services are routinely blocked by the Chinese authorities.[331]
On the other hand, in Brazil online services now attract larger
audiences than radio. Consequently, the Portuguese service in
Brazil will become internet-only.[332]
Nigel Chapman explained to the Lords Committee on Review of the
BBC Charter that:
Our minimum position about audience
is that
we want to reach out to decision-makers and opinion-formers, people
who are actually going to influence
the future of that
society, so we are definitely getting to a younger group of these
people by new media investment. Obviously, we have withdrawn some
funds from radio to do it, as in the Brazilian service, and there
is a risk that some older listeners to the BBC's Portuguese service
will no longer be able to access it. There is definitely a down
side to that, but in the end this is the sort of juggling act
that one has to do in making our priorities.[333]
In January 2005, the BBC's Brazilian website registered
14.3 million page impressions, up more than 120 per cent in a
year. The World Service is also pioneering the introduction of
video content in Brazil.[334]
183. We
conclude that if the BBC World Service is to sustain its position
as the best known and most respected international broadcaster
it must take every opportunity to exploit new technology in order
to keep pace with changing consumer preferences. We commend the
BBC World Service's vision for new investment in digital services
and believe that extra investment in new media will be vital in
the future if the Service is to see a growth in audiences.
199 BBC World Service, Annual Review 2004-05,
June 2005, available at www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice Back
200
Ibid, pp 28-31 Back
201
Ev 46 Back
202
BBC World Service, Annual Review 2004-05, June 2005,
p 4, available at www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice Back
203
Ev 47 Back
204
BBC World Service, Annual Review 2004-05, June 2005,
pp 28-29 Back
205
The BBC measures relevance by conducting national surveys in different
countries to find out the percentage of listeners who say that
the BBC World Service provides news that is relevant to them Back
206
Q 161 Back
207
Q 161 Back
208
Ev 48 Back
209
BBC World Service, Annual Review 2004-05, June 2005,
p 31 Back
210
See paragraphs 173 Back
211
Foreign Affairs Committee, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Annual Report 2003-2004, Ev 110 Back
212
Cm 6415, p13 Back
213
Review of the BBC's Royal Charter, A strong BBC, Independent
of Government, DCMS, March 2005, available at www.bbccharterreview.org.uk Back
214
Ibid, p 45 Back
215
"BBC World Service announces 'biggest transformation in 70
years'", BBC Press Release, 25 October 2005, available at
www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/ Back
216
Q 126 Back
217
Ev 49-53 Back
218
Ev 53, para 3.4 Back
219
Q 159 Back
220
Ev 52, para 3.3.1 Back
221
Department for Culture, Media and Sport, A Strong BBC, Independent
of Government, March 2005, p 45 Back
222
Ev 50, para 3.1.3 Back
223
Ibid Back
224
Ibid Back
225
Q 66 Back
226
Ev 51, para 3.1.3 Back
227
Q 67 Back
228
Q 67 Back
229
Ev 52, para 3.3.1 Back
230
"NUJ slams plan to silence 10 BBC language services",
National Union for Journalists, available at: www.nuj.org.uk/i Back
231
See: Ev 82; Ev 85 Back
232
Ev 85 Back
233
The Press freedom index is produced by Reporters Without Borders,
see www.rsf.org Back
234
HC Deb, 7 March 2006, col. 248WH Back
235
Ibid Back
236
HL (2005-06) 128-II, Q 842 Back
237
"Shrinking World", Sunday Times, 16 October 2005
and "World Service cuts to fund BBC's Arab TV", Sunday
Telegraph, 16 October 2005 Back
238
Q 140 Back
239
Q 140 Back
240
Q 140 Back
241
Q 140 Back
242
Ev 83 Back
243
See: Foreign Affairs Committee, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Annual Report 2003-2004, Ev 109 Back
244
Ev 51, para 3.2.1 Back
245
Foreign Affairs Committee, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Annual Report 2003-2004, para 161 Back
246
Qq 127-28 Back
247
Q 127 Back
248
"In shift, BBC to start Arabic TV Channel", International
Herald Tribune, 26 October 2005 Back
249
Q 131 Back
250
Q 131 Back
251
Q 132 Back
252
Q 132 Back
253
see: "BBC goes head-to-head with al-Jazeera", The
Guardian, 26 October 2005 Back
254
Ev 51, para 3.2.1 Back
255
Q 180 Back
256
Q 181 Back
257
HL (2005-06) 128-II, Q 878 Back
258
Ev 51, para 3.2.1 Back
259
HL (2005-06) 128-II, Q 883 Back
260
Foreign Affairs Committee, corrected transcript of oral evidence,
Session 2005-06, HC 573-iii, Q 160, available at www.publications.parliament.uk Back
261
HC (2005-06) 573-iii, Q 161 Back
262
Ibid, Q 160 Back
263
Ibid, Q 160 Back
264
HL (2005-06) 128-II, Q 855 Back
265
Q 78 Back
266
Q 76 Back
267
HL (2005-06) 128-II, Q 858 Back
268
Ev 53, para 53 Back
269
HL (2005-06) 128-II, Q 895 Back
270
HL (2005-06) 128-I, para 71 Back
271
Q 92 Back
272
Q 92 Back
273
Q 197 Back
274
Q 80 Back
275
Q 80 Back
276
HL (2005-06) 128-II, Q 897 Back
277
Q 87 Back
278
HL (2005-06) 128-II, Q 931 Back
279
Ibid, Q 967 Back
280
Ev 52, para 3.3.2 Back
281
Ev 83 Back
282
HL (2005-06) 128-I, para 74 Back
283
HL (2005-06) 128-II, Q 999 Back
284
Ev 70 Back
285
Ev 70 Back
286
"BBC goes head-to-head with al-Jazeera", The Guardian,
26 October 2005 Back
287
HL (2005-06) 128-II, Q 917 Back
288
Ibid, Q 917 Back
289
HL (2005-06) 128-II, Q 855 Back
290
Ibid, Q 995 Back
291
HC (2005-06) 573-iii Back
292
Ev 53, para 53 Back
293
Q 141 Back
294
Ev 50, para 3.1.3 Back
295
Q 124 Back
296
Q 125 Back
297
Q 142 Back
298
"BBC Persian.com online news site blocked", BBC Press
Notices, 24 January 2006, available at www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases Back
299
Ibid Back
300
Iran: The path ahead, speech by the Foreign Secretary at
the International Institute for Strategic Studies on 13 March
2006 Back
301
Ev 47 Back
302
Ev 50, para 3.1.3 Back
303
BBC World is primarily an English-language news service Back
304
Ev 70 Back
305
HL (2005-06) 128-I, para 75 Back
306
Department for Culture, Media and Sport. A public service for
all: the BBC in the digital age, March 2006, Cm 6763 Back
307
Ibid Back
308
Foreign Affairs Committee, uncorrected transcript of oral evidence,
Session 2005-06, HC 573-v, Q 219, available at www.publications.parliament.uk Back
309
Ev 54 Back
310
Ev 54 Back
311
HC Deb, 31 October 2005, col 752W Back
312
Q 136 Back
313
Q 136 Back
314
Ev 72 Back
315
Ev 72 Back
316
Ev 72 Back
317
Ev 54 Back
318
Q 138 Back
319
"'Harassed' BBC shuts Uzbek office", BBC news online,
available at:www.news.bbc.co.uk/ Back
320
Ev 71 Back
321
Q 138 Back
322
Q 138 Back
323
Q 138 Back
324
Ev 71 Back
325
Ev 71 Back
326
Ev 51, para 3.2.2 Back
327
Ibid Back
328
Q 142 Back
329
Ev 48 Back
330
BBC World Service Annual Review 2004/05, June 2005, p 5 Back
331
Q 152 Back
332
Ev 51, para 3.1.3 Back
333
HL (2005-06) 128-II, Q 854 Back
334
Ev 48 Back