BBC World Service faces cutbacks
The BBC’s international presence could be severely curtailed after the Foreign Office, which funds the service through an annual £272m grant, told executives to plan for budget cuts of up to 25%.
According to reports in theguardian this would force the BBC to withdraw from several territories, including Burma and Russia, which are expensive to produce and/or attract few listeners.
Critics have rounded on the threat to Burma in particular, pointing out that any potential cuts could sever one of the few lines of unbiased communication in societies which lack a free press.
Labour leadership candidate David Miliband was quoted as saying: “Scrapping the World service in Burma would be a gift to the military junta, and an insult to political prisoners locked in Burma’s jails for no crime.”
Currently the BBC transmits news coverage for over an hour each day in Burma, attracting an audience of 8.5m.
No formal decisions will be announced until the chancellor unveils details of the government’s public spending review on October 20.
The BBC currently operates radio broadcasts, TV stations and websites in 32 countries, giving the broadcaster a global reach of some 241m people.