Media Security and the BBC World Service

Good morning, everyone.

It's great to have the chance to be part of this critically important conversation.

We all know: a free press is a crucial part of any well-functioning democracy.

It's a subject I have talked about at length during my tenure as Director-General.

The direction of travel for press freedom is deeply worrying, with 75% of the world's countries with low or non-existent media freedom.

Today, over 300 of our BBC World Service journalists are working in exile.

It is not safe enough for them to do their jobs in the countries they report on.

You will hear from some of our courageous teams this morning.

And my thanks go to them for their incredible work and public service dedication.

Media security means two things: the ability to produce journalism and the means to deliver it.

For BBC journalism to thrive, and to be useful for people around the world, they need to have access to it.

There is little point in producing world class journalism if people cannot read, see and hear it.

That's why we have gathered the leading minds in the country to think about routes to audiences, circumvention and technological innovation.

The BBC has a strong record. In Iran, for example, we reach one in four adults.

Through TV and digital, our BBC News Persian teams work tirelessly to bring trusted news to the people who need it most.

On January 8, when the internet was blocked amid growing protests in the country, we enhanced our TV satellite offer and provided radio programmes over shortwave and mediumwave to reach audiences.

There are many more examples. The BBC is also blocked in China, Russia, Turkmenistan and parts of Vietnam. We face real difficulties in Ethiopia, Myanmar, Afghanistan, and more.

This conversation comes at a critical time for the BBC.

We're in the middle of a discussion about the BBC's future as part of the process of reviewing our Royal Charter.

The BBC World Service is front and centre of that debate.

Today it remains the most trusted international news provider around the world.

Across 43 languages, it's thanks to the World Service that BBC News reaches 418 million people on average every week.

I have often talked about the growing importance of the BBC World Service in times of insecurity and instability.

People in all corners of the globe depend increasingly on our ability to reach them with independent, impartial, accurate journalism they can trust.

So as part of Charter review, we're making the case for a strong BBC World Service that's fit for the future.

In the meantime, the current funding arrangement with the Foreign Office runs out at the end of March. Seven weeks today.

We're waiting to hear the outcome of the settlement.

But while we do, other Western news organisations are cutting their international reporting teams, disinformation is flooding the digital sphere at an incredible speed, and state-backed media firms are using AI to promote propaganda.

We have no time to lose. As a country, we face big decisions about our role in the international arena.

I urge the government to back the World Service, to act decisively and confidently about what we can achieve in this space, and to act soon… So that amid all the global uncertainty, audiences can continue to rely on our journalism - the very best the UK has to offer.

Search by Tag:

• Tagged with Speech Speech