World Service to be heavily cut: est. 30mil listeners to be lost - Polidicks

(some background: Foreign Office funding has been heavily cut, and the licence fee payer will bear the cost of the service come 2014) Foreign-language services to disappear: - Portuguese for Africa - Carribean English - Macedonian - Serbian - Albanian Programming in foreign languages to disappear: - Russian - Mandarin - Spanish - Turkish - Vietnamese - Ukranian - Azeri Terrestrial broadcasts to cease in: - China - Russia - Ukraine - Turkey Russian and Arabic services will be heavily hit by layoffs, and the English service will be simplified. From the MediaGuardian ([url]http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/26/bbc-world-service-cuts?showallcomments=true#comment-fold[/url]) [quote] The BBC today confirmed that 650 jobs would be lost at the BBC World Service in cutbacks that it said would lead to the loss of 30 million listeners around the world. Peter Horrocks, the BBC's global news director, confirming the scale of the cuts in an internal staff briefing today, said it was a "difficult and sad day both personally and professionally" for the 2,000 staff who work at the global broadcaster. Horrocks described it as an "enormous shift" for the World Service, where 650 jobs will go, including 480 posts over the next 12 months, as management implements cuts following a 16% cut in Foreign Office funding. An estimated 68 jobs will go at the World Service's English-language service. Five foreign-language services will be axed and shortwave broadcasts cut back. The five foreign-language services to be shut down are: Serbia, Macedonia, Albania, the Caribbean and Portuguese services for Africa. Radio broadcasts in China, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey will be axed, and shortwave broadcasts will cease in Hindi. The Persian and Arabic services will work much more closely together with all evening radio programmes axed from the BBC Arabic service. Overseas, the brunt of the cuts will be borne by the Arabic and Russian services, with the latter set to lose 45 posts, about half of its staff. Horrocks said the BBC's director general, Mark Thompson, has pledged to reverse the World Service cuts when the corporation takes over responsibility for its funding from the Foreign Office in 2014. The Foreign Office funding cut and move for the World Service to be paid for from the licence fee from 2014 came out of the coalition government's comprehensive spending review in October. His voice cracking with emotion, Horrocks told staff: "There is no doubt the period ahead is going to be difficult and sad both personally and professionally for everyone in the World Service. I know it won't be easy for you to go back to your jobs and carry on today but I know that you will be professional as you have been all along and make sure our audiences get the service they deserve. "Today is an extremely tough day for all of us but I assure you the World Service will get through this and continue to deliver brilliantly for our audiences. The task that we have is too important to fail." The World Service has a worldwide audience of about 180 million listeners. the National Union of Journalists general secretary, Jeremy Dear, warned today that it would be eclipsed by the Voice of the America as the world's leading global broadcaster. Horrocks said: "The changes we are announcing today will result in a loss of audiences. Our best estimate is that there will be an immediate drop of more than 30 million out of our audience figure of 180 million as a direct result of these changes." "I know how much anger, upset and sadness there is going to be. That is going to be overwhelming for some people. "We will come together and put our arms round each other and get through this. That is the only thing to do. If we end up fighting we will destroy ourselves."[/quote] A pity, really - I remember losing the Thai Service. Radio news in Thailand doesn't compare to it - in fact, they don't get anywhere close to the depth the old bulletins have. It also annoys me that they're cutting service in the countries that will need it like China and former Soviet sattelite states, for example. This is the wrong way to go around improving the image of the UK abroad - the image of the BBC isn't propagandist or crude, it's an "alternative view". VoA is utter, utter shite and it is exactly it. It's also one of the least deserving places to receive cuts, in my opinion, especially given the fact that the Ones and Twos seem to have appeared unscathed. (mind you, fuck the Director-General.)

make everyone speak english

Ah yes, the drawbacks of state-funded television.

[QUOTE=makingthatmaker;27670454]make everyone speak english[/QUOTE] Life would be so much more convent if we all spoke the same language

[QUOTE=ZestyLemons;27672651]Life would be so much more convent if we all spoke the same language[/QUOTE] It will, at some point.

[QUOTE=makingthatmaker;27670454]make everyone speak english[/QUOTE] It will be good if the entire world spoke one language, then we would suffer a hell lot less revolutions, uprisings and shit caused by nationalism.

[QUOTE=ZestyLemons;27672651]Life would be so much more convent if we all spoke the same language[/QUOTE] but think of how boring that would be

What type of services?

[QUOTE=artistfag;27675164]but think of how boring that would be[/QUOTE] You know how fucking annoying it is when I'm forced to learn english and other people in europe can't be bothered to even try?

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;27675100]It will be good if the entire world spoke one language, then we would suffer a hell lot less revolutions, uprisings and shit caused by nationalism.[/QUOTE] They tried that with Esperanto, which turned out to be a hilarious failure. Also consider the cultural implications.

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;27675100]It will be good if the entire world spoke one language, then we would suffer a hell lot less revolutions, uprisings and shit caused by nationalism.[/QUOTE] Maybe that's what Hitler really wanted.

God will split our languages again.

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;27675100]It will be good if the entire world spoke one language, then we would suffer a hell lot less revolutions, uprisings and shit caused by nationalism.[/QUOTE] It's easy to say that if your language is the one that will become the standard. Would you want to learn Mandarin? It's the most spoken language in the world.

[QUOTE=HolyCrusade;27675890]It's easy to say that if your language is the one that will become the standard. Would you want to learn Mandarin? It's the most spoken language in the world.[/QUOTE] Unfortunately most of the people who speak it reside in one country, whilst English is spoken by nearly the same number of people worldwide. I have also heard that English is being taught in China, and that it contains more English speakers than there are English people.

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;27675100]It will be good if the entire world spoke one language, then we would suffer a hell lot less revolutions, uprisings and shit caused by nationalism.[/QUOTE] I think nationalism is more of a racial cultural thing

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;27676162]Unfortunately most of the people who speak it reside in one country, whilst English is spoken by nearly the same number of people worldwide. I have also heard that English is being taught in China, and that it contains more English speakers than there are English people.[/QUOTE] It's easy to call for uniformity when you possess the dominant culture.

I love the diversity various languages help provide. I'm not talking about how much fun it is to be able to curse someone out in a couple, but of the different ways of thinking that learning a new language can provide. Then again, globalization will happen.

What a shame, BBC is probably one of the best sources for news. Hope those 30 million people find something remotely close in quality and service.

[QUOTE=BANNED USER;27677847]Hope those 30 million people find something remotely close in quality and service.[/QUOTE] Fox News. :smug:

The BBC is cutting back a quarter of it's online services too

A real shame. The BBC has always been a fairly consistent source of unbiased, factual reporting.

Well Britain, you're not going so well these days, huh.

[QUOTE=Arsonist;27678177]The BBC is cutting back a quarter of it's online services too[/QUOTE] Oh god, h2g2 is being killed