Pullout quote to follow… Annual Review 2002/2003 A N Other, Job Title Annual Review 2002/2003 Company,Many Day Month voices,200• one world… Broadcasting in Un monde, un seul… 43 languages tant de voix! MANY VOICES, Shumë Zëra, Një Botë , Sokféle hang, egy világ Isi imwe, amajwi menshi Muitas vozes, um mundo só Contents 01 Our aims 28 Output and performance 02 Chairman’s introduction measures 04 Director’s overview 32 BBC Board of Governors’ 08 Coverage of the Iraq crisis World Service Consultative 10 BBC Arabic Group Report 12 Reconstruction of 33 BBC World Service Afghanistan – one year on Management Board 2002/03 15 Seventy years of BBC World 34 Financial review Service 35 Financial statements 20 BBC World Service 38 Statement of accounting new media policies 21 BBC Monitoring 40 Notes to the financial 24 BBC World Service Trust statements 25 Looking forward – priorities 50 Reports on compliance for 2003-06 and regulatory matters 60 Further information Front Cover Image After 24 years under Saddam Hussein, Iraqis are facing an unpredictable future. The World Service remains committed to providing trusted news and information in Arabic and English to the Iraqi people Our aims To be the world’s best-known and most-respected voice in international broadcasting, thereby bringing benefit to Britain To be the world’s first To be a global hub for Projecting Britain’s Promoting the English choice among international high-quality information values of trustworthiness, language, learning and broadcasters for authoritative and communication openness, fair-dealing, creativity, interest in a modern, and impartial news and enterprise and community contemporary Britain information, trusted for its accuracy, editorial Providing a forum for Offering a showcase independence and expertise the exchange of ideas for British talent across cultural, linguistic across the world and national boundaries BBC World Service Annual Review 2002/2003 1 Chairman’s introduction Abeacon of independence In December 2002, BBC World Service celebrated its 70th birthday with a global concert across five continents and a 14-hour broadcast that linked some 50 locations around the globe They were part of a season of special During the Iraq war, the BBC Arabic Service began programmes of considerable range and ambition. a new daily debate programme, Nuqtat Hewar.It They showed that the BBC still has the capacity offered a forum for radio listeners and online users to fulfil a powerful role on the world stage, just to exchange opinions – a unique offer across the as it has from its birth in 1932. Arab world. This has been a momentous year for international The programme has received thousands of emails broadcasting. The war in Iraq has meant that and texts every day, allowing major global leaders, global news services have never been more local politicians and ordinary Arabs to join prominent or important. But the war also together. This type of debate can really help to demonstrated that while the world is connected achieve greater understanding, openness and technologically, it is far from connected in terms dialogue. of mutual understanding. This is why in December 2002 we brought This globalised world increases the scale of together our international services across radio, international business and the specialisation television and online, under the umbrella of the of trade which could dramatically improve the new BBC World Service & Global News Division standard of living of all the world’s citizens. led by Mark Byford. But it also increases the speed of social change, the potential for a rapid spread of bigotry and The division comprises World Service radio, our other bad ideas, and the impact with which international television channel, BBC World, and cultures can collide. the BBC’s international online services. Fostering mutual understanding across These services are available on three different international borders and cultural divides must platforms, but all share the same values of be a key way forward. independence, impartiality, quality, accuracy, breadth and depth of agenda, expertise and The global news service of the BBC is one of only eyewitness reportage. a few organisations in the world well positioned to make a contribution to this healing process. With better co-ordination across all these services and under a strict fair-trading framework, The challenge for BBC World Service is to make we will maximise our potential editorially and sense of what seems a confusing and contradictory achieve greater impact for the BBC brand among world, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas audiences around the world. By so doing, we across cultural, linguistic and national boundaries. will bring credit to Britain. If the service can continue to contribute in these crucial areas, it will be worth the cost, many times over. Gavyn Davies As reconstruction BBC World Service BBC Chairman continues in Afghanistan provided a lifeline service the BBC’s Pashto and of trusted information to Persian Services remains the Iraqi people 24 hours of vital importance to a day, offering a forum for audiences there listeners and online users 2 BBC World Service Annual Review 2002/2003 “All the Iraqis, even those who defend Saddam, know the extent of this sadistic regime…” Listener, Kuwait “I do not support Blair, Bush or this war, but I can rely on the World Service to bring the truth.” Listener, Iraq Excerpts from calls taken on the Arabic interactive programme Nuqtat Hewar BBC World Service Annual Review 2002/2003 3 Director’s overview Building for the future in a changing world It has been an extraordinary year for the BBC World Service in which we built on our outstanding reputation as a beacon of trust, independence and quality As the Iraq war began, the BBC World Service in more important time to connect with our English undertook its biggest news programming audiences and encourage them to connect operation ever, providing continuous news and with each other. analysis for over 220 hours. In July 2002, the Government announced a The BBC Arabic Service also played a pivotal role Spending Review settlement for the World Service in providing independent, trusted information to with an average 3.4% above RPI annual increase the people of Iraq and across the Arab world. It for 2003-06. New investment plans focus on broadcast live from Cairo at breakfast time and content enrichment in radio for services to the produced an extra 13 hours of news and current Arab world and Afghanistan; FM expansion in affairs output every day. the major global conurbations; and building our multi-lingual internet presence with enhanced A wide range of voices and opinions was interactivity. reflected in daily interactive discussion forums on the English and Arabic radio services and online, We retained our global audience of at least which became a strong and distinctive feature of 150 million weekly listeners in a world of exploding the output. competition. This has been achieved by expanding local partnerships and our FM presence. The World In Iraq itself during the war, we were providing a Service is now available on FM in 138 capital cities. lifeline service of trusted information to the Iraqi people through the BBC Arabic Service. At the In some countries, BBC World Service has as same time, coalition forces were tuning in to the great an impact as BBC Radio 2 – Britain’s most- World Service in English on the battlefield as they listened-to station – has in the UK. For example, advanced to Baghdad. Meanwhile, at the Central World Service programmes in Nigeria and Kenya Command Centre in Qatar, BBC World was a have a weekly reach of over 30%. key source of information. Moreover, the first independent city-wide survey It was a vivid reminder of the role and in Kabul since the fall of the Taleban showed BBC responsibility the BBC plays in providing trusted, World Service to be the leading broadcaster in the reliable, accurate, impartial information to all its Afghanistan capital with an unprecedented 82% audiences; to make sense of a complex, confusing of Afghans listening to BBC broadcasts in Persian and contradictory world; and to provide a forum and Pashto every week. for the exchange of ideas. Audiences in the USA listening via FM At its best, international broadcasting has the rebroadcasters on public radio are now at their potential to foster understanding and establish highest level ever. Audience figures have increased a genuine dialogue across cultural, linguistic and by 70% in the past two years – up from 2.3 million national boundaries. There has never been a in 2001 to 3.9 million, in one of the world’s most Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was released in May 2002 after 19 months of house arrest by the Myanmar The World Service government. “I depended covered the 2002 a lot on the BBC World Commonwealth Games, Service. It was my which took place in only connection with Manchester in the the world” United Kingdom 4 BBC World Service Annual Review 2002/2003 competitive markets. An average 22% of opinion BBC Monitoring, based at Caversham, responded formers in Boston, New York and Washington to the particularly high demand for fast and listen to the World Service each week. accurate global media monitoring in the past year, particularly during the Iraq conflict. Customer Surveys from nine selected markets around satisfaction ratings for usefulness, range, selection the globe show that the BBC World Service and responsiveness remained high. is the most trusted and objective international broadcaster in each market. The World Service marked its 70th anniversary throughout December 2002 with high-profile A MORI survey of UK MPs showed a further events of ambition and innovation that made rise in the World Service favourability rating impact both globally and at home.