BBC issues ‘unprecedented threat’ warning over independent news
The BBC has issued a strongly worded warning regarding the future of impartial news gathering, warning of an “unprecedented global threat to impartial and independent news”.
The warning comes ahead of a speech by the BBC’s director of Global News, Peter Horrocks, who will say: “We have seen an unprecedented threat to impartial and independent news from around the world. Journalists have faced threats to their lives, censorship through intimidation or faced terror charges in their search for alternative voices.
“These challenges have never been so severe or varied, as the shocking deaths of Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik in Syria have shown.”
Horrocks is particularly concerned about the prevalence of satellite “jamming” by authorities in Iran and China, calling for all governments to allow their citizens to hear views from other countries.