Name: Shiva Darshan Delegation: Montgomery

Country: British Broadcasting Corporation Committee: Written Press

Part I – Country Information

The British Broadcasting Corporation is public broadcasting service funded by the British government. The BBC started in October 1922 as London's first professional daily radio service, 2LO. By 1932, the BBC World Service began broadcasting to the Empire. Today BBC is one of the largest public broadcasting service, broadcasting radio, television, and online service in 200 countries and territories in 27 languages. The Executive Board and the Management Board oversees day-to-day operations of the BBC, while the BBC Trust controls funding and sets strategic objectives.

Topic 1: Censorship

The BBC currently faces various forms of censorship. We have been banned from certain regions of the world, making it next to impossible to write an accurate report from the many different perspectives that exist. Two years ago, the Sudanese government banned us from broadcasting in Arabic in several of our cities, and threatened to detain any journalist or reporter who refused to complete a questionnaire. The censorship of our company makes it next to impossible to accurately report the events taking place in another country, and it denies our reporters their right to investigate. Denying reporters these rights is not only an injustice to the individual, but also to the world who is anxious to learn about the events taking place in other countries, and who understand and value our ability to write such unbiased material.

In an attempt to make the world a more truthful and peaceful place, the BBC suggests the creation of a pact to unite against journalist injustice. We call together those who signed the London Statement and the rest of the UN, hoping to pass more bills and regulations that protect the rights and the lives of passionate reporters. We also hope to speak to the nations that are most at fault of such censorship, and plan on presenting our side of the story- the side that says that everyone has a right to write and learn about what is really going on in another country. As the BBC, our mission statement is “to enrich people's lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain.” We plan on doing all of these things, with newly implemented laws and acts, with the hope of making a world that consist of media networks that are able to access educational material on every event that has occurred in recordable history, and plan on presenting this information from every view point possible.

Our main allies for this cause would be other media services. It would also be valuable to document documentaries and articles from journalists who have been censored in one way or another, to show the impact it has. We should also consider it beneficial to partner with the UN, so as to reach a larger audience and advertise out idea and our plans. We should also look into teaming up with the other signers of the London Statement, including , Al Jazeera, CPJ, INSI, CNN, and several others.

Topic 2: Journalist Safety

The BBC World Service has reporters and correspondents across the world, many of whom work in high-risk areas. Many of our journalists working in such risky areas have been attack, arrested, and even killed. Many of our journalists have been arrested for their reporting, one of whom being Ibrahim Mohamed Adan, a correspondent for our Somali service, who is being held without charge after his report on the military court ordered execution of a Somali soldier. The Middle East has proven an especially dangerous area for our journalists, as may of them have been captured and killed while reporting in this region. In Afghanistan for example, the International Security Assistance Force accidentally shot and killed our reporter Ahmed Omed Khpulwak, while Saudi Arabia terrorists attacked and paralyzed Frank Gardner, and killed his cameraman. We find such violence appalling, avoidable, and something that needs to be stopped immediately. The BBC Global, a subsidiary of the BBC, is a signer of the London Statement by Members of the Global Media Community on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, which calls for the international community to do more about journalists' safety. In addition to these organizations, we have also implemented and signed many policies and guidelines attempting to end the violence against journalists.

As a signer of the London Statement, the BBC would like to see the UN and the international community do more to protect the safety of journalists. We would like to see the creation of international frameworks that protect journalists and punish those who deliberately try to bring them harm. It is currently a war crime to intentionally target journalists, but very little has come about as result of this regulation. Speaking as the BBC and the other signers of the London Statement, we believe that more people and organizations should be prosecuted for their murder of reporters, and believe that tighter rules and regulations should be set in place to insure their safety. Moreover, we assert our desire for an increase of the protection of local journalists and the immediate end of impunity, and hope to never see a man guilty of harming a journalist walk free.

Our allies in this cause include all the fellow signers of the London Statement, Al Jazeera, CPJ, INSI, CNN, among others. Many of the signers are news services whose journalists as well face threats of violence. One of the signers, Geo TV, who interviewed Malala Yousafzai, has been threatened by the Taliban. Within the UN, UNESCO has been a great supporter of the Journalists’ Safety. UNESCO has release its UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity.

Topic 3: Coverage of Regional Issues and Conflicts

The BBC is officially editorially independent of the British Government and tries to stay impartial when covering the news. Nonetheless, the BBC has been accused of being bias. The BBC’s reporting of the Middle East has been called overly western centric. It is alleged that we rely too much on the word of western officials without adequately providing a platform for Middle Eastern voices. At the BBC we try our best to provide every side of the story, but there are admitted slip-ups, such as the Hutton affair when the BBC broadcast talking points from PM Tony Blair saying that Saddam Hussein has stockpiles of WMDs. After which, BBC’s Andrew Gilligan accused Blair of lying and subsequently forced him to resign after the Hutton Inquiry exonerated Blair and accused Gilligan of making false claims. It was later shown that Hutton Inquiry was deeply flawed.

The BBC Trust is always working to improve the quality of the BBC. After failures of our reporting, we act with courage and honesty to fix our failures. The BBC must maintain editorial independence from the British Government and must not make attempts at top-heavy administration. While reporting abroad, our journalists face many dangers and are not always able to cover the story from every perspective. As foreign journalists, we may not be able to safely access the same information other journalists get. This leaves us with few other sources aside from those that are official. Improvements in journalist safety must be made to allow us to comfortably send our journalists into hot zone where they may report on the perspective of the common man and woman.

We may work with our audience to improve the BBC through our complaint system. The system allows our viewers to report instances of bias or failures of reporting. Furthermore, our journalists’ commitment to the truth has helped the BBC remain impartial. Events such as the Great Strike, when the entire BBC went on strike in response to the British government’s attempt at taking more control over the BBC, highlight this.

Sources

  1. "The BBC and Government." BBC. BBC, 2013. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/resources/bbcandgov/index.shtml>.
  2. "BBC Trust." BBC. BBC, 2013. Web. 25 May 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/>.
  3. "FAQs-The 1930s." BBC World Service. BBC, 8 Feb. 2007. Web. 25 May 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/history/story/2007/02/070123_html_1930s.shtml>.
  4. Gardner, Frank. "They shot me six times and left me paralysed in a pool of blood - but I had to go back to Al Qaeda country: Courageous pilgrimage by BBC's Frank Gardner." Daily Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 8 Apr. 2013. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2305069/They-shot-times-left-paralysed-pool-blood--I-to-Al-Qaeda-country-Courageous-pilgrimage-BBCs-Frank-Gardner.html>.
  5. Great Britain. House of Commons Forgien Affairs Committee. The Work of the BBC World Service 2008-09. London: TSO, 2010. House of Commons. Web. 26 May 2013.
  6. Hayward, David. "London Symposium on the Safety of Journalists." BBC- Blogs- College of Journalism. BBC, 19 Nov. 2012. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/blogcollegeofjournalism/posts/London-symposium-on-the-safety-of-journalists>.
  7. “Inside the BBC.” BBC. BBC, 2013. Web. 25 May 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/whoweare/mission_and_values/>
  8. "Inside the BBC-At a Glance." BBC. BBC, 2013. Web. 25 May 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/whoweare/ataglance/>.
  9. "In Somalia, BBC journalist held without charge." Committee to Protect Journalists. Committee to Protect Journalists, 26 Nov. 2012. Web. 26 May 2013.

<http://www.cpj.org/2012/11/in-somalia-bbc-journalist-held-without-charge.php>.

  1. Minutes of the Governors’ Private Session. 28 Jan 2004m Broadcasting House Rm 2364. n.p. web. The Guardian. 26 May 2013.

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Media/documents/2007/01/11/DykeMinutes280104.pdf

  1. “Sudan bans BBC Arabic.” Committee to Protect Journalists. Committee to Protect Journalists, 9 Aug 2009. Web. 26 May 2013.
    http://cpj.org/2010/08/sudan-bans-bbc-arabic-tightens-grip-on-the-press.php>
  2. "Where Next?" BBC. BBC, 2013. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/wherenext/index.shtml#4>.