Broadcasting britishness, strategic challenges and the ecology of overseas broadcasting by the BBC

Gillespie, Marie; Webb, Alban; Baumann, Gerd

doi:10.1080/01439680802310258

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…From an FCO perspective, the advent of online services, it was hoped, would reap diplomatic benefits for Britainthough it is important to stress that the BBCW's diasporic journalists, unexceptionally, see themselves as professional journalists and would baulk at any implication that their work directly serves the diplomatic ends of the FCO . The relationship between the senior management at FCO and BBCWS is one that has long been conducted by 'gentlemanly agreement' rather than overt pressure and yet it is a relationship in which the FCO exerts considerable power (Gillespie et al, 2008).…”

Section: Participatory Production: Empowerment and Surveillancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…From an FCO perspective its services should reap diplomatic benefits for Britain -though BBCW journalists do not see their work in such terms. The relationship between the senior management at FCO and BBCWS is one that has long been conducted by 'gentlemanly agreement' rather than overt pressure and yet it is a relationship in which the FCO exerts considerable power (Gillespie, Webb and Baumann, 2008) Changes to the funding and governance structures of the BBCWS, following the UK Government's Comprehensive Spending Review in October 2010, mean that its relationships with the FCO, with overseas audiences, and with British taxpayers (when it comes under licence fee control in 2014), are at a critical turning point. The very purpose of the BBCWS, with its rapidly declining number of foreign language services and diminishing radio audiences in many parts of the world (5 disappeared in 2010-11), is being re-defined at breakneck speed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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BBC Arabic, Social Media and Citizen Production: An Experiment in Digital Democracy before the Arab Spring

Gillespie

2013

Theory, Culture & Society

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This article examines an innovative experiment in democratising international broadcasting through embracing a participatory model of production. In spring 2010, a political debate television series was co-created by BBC Arabic and citizen producers, using social media tools. Based around interviews with prominent political and controversial public figures, the show (G710) was broadcast weekly on satellite TV across the Middle East and the Arabic-speaking world. Combining collaborative ethnography with corporate 'big data' analysis, the research team followed the experiment from conception to premature closure. The article argues that the kinds of digital tools deployed in producing the show, and used by BBC audience research to monitor user practices in real time, have become essential to corporate processes of BBC World Service governance, strategy, accountability, marketing and editorial decision-making. They act as change agents, presenting methodological problems and opportunities for the BBC's audience researchers and academic researchers, as well as symbolising the contradictory logic of empowerment and surveillance.

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Section: Participatory Production: Empowerment and Surveillancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

BBC Arabic, Social Media and Citizen Production: An Experiment in Digital Democracy before the Arab Spring

Gillespie

2013

Theory, Culture & Society

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“…22 Rajni's account beautifully captures what her BBC's broadcasts in Hindi from London meant to one listener in particular. The wider research project on which this special issue is based reveals that around the world, listeners have similarly experienced a great sense of intimacy with diasporic broadcasters from a distance (see Gillespie et al 2008b, Gillespie 2007, Robertson 2008, Thiranagama 2008. This special issue problematises the nature of this 'broadcast intimacy' beyond affection and feeling to show the contradictions and the dissonances inherent in the relationship.…”

Section: Radio Audiences Acoustic Cultures and The Intimacy Of Distancementioning

confidence: 98%

Introduction – South Asian diasporas and the BBC World Service: contacts, conflicts, and contestations

Gillespie

Pinkerton

Baumann

et al. 2010

South Asian Diaspora

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This article sets out the analytical framework of this special issue and outlines the development of BBC radio broadcasting in South Asia. It analyses the ways in which the BBC in South Asia is integrally and indissolubly intertwined with 'critical events' and shifting geopolitical priorities: from the imperial and diasporic imaginings of the Empire Service, to its dissolution and the expansion of South Asian language services during World War II for the purpose of countering 'enemy broadcasts'; from independence, partition and decolonisation, including the BBC's subsequent role in mediating postcolonial conflicts and wars and Cold War tensions, to its most recent 'war on terror' phase with its unspoken aim of promoting a British version liberal democracy around the globe. The article highlights how the often intimate engagements of diverse audiences in South Asia and its diasporas with the BBC have changed in response to technological innovation and geopolitics. We emphasise the distinctiveness of the BBC voice, especially the 'right kind of diasporic voice', and its acoustic power and presence in South Asia. We highlight how the rapid expansion of South Asian mediascapes -especially in India is unsettling the privileged position that the BBC South Asian services have enjoyed for nearly eight decades. Digital technologies are facilitating the emergence of 'digital diasporas' as South Asians across the world log on to consume news with alternative perspectives to news providers in South Asia and to engage in diasporic debates, often with unintended and unforeseen consequences.The relationship between the BBC and Indian listeners has been one of love and hate. Love for the professional competence and hate as it represented the voice of a colonial empire. Even during the post-freedom period, more often than not a bias against India was discernable in BBC broadcasts in our conflicts with Pakistan, particularly on the Kashmir issue. The BBC also did not miss an opportunity to project the seamy side of our people and polity. (Sharma 1994, p. 82)

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“…This provocation seeks to discuss the BBC's sensibilities in relation to the interests and perceptions of Indian audiences through two methods: one, a review of available secondary literature; and two, brief conversations with media professionals who have previously or currently work with the BBC in India. According to Gillespie et al (2008), the BBC's history of overseas broadcasting is both lesser known and even less understood, and this reflects in the Indian context as well. More attention therefore must be paid to this important element of the BBC’s mission.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A perspective on BBC television news in India

Jaggi

Patankar

2022

Critical Studies in Television: The International Journal of Te

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This provocation gives an overview of the BBC in India in terms of television news. It discusses the BBC's sensibilities in relation to the interests and perceptions of Indian audiences through two methods: one, a review of available secondary literature; and two, brief conversations with media professionals who have previously or currently work with the BBC in India. It briefly comments on the conflicting journey of the BBC in India but argues that despite the colonial legacy and the initial narrative of privileging the imperial voice, the BBC is largely viewed as a fair and impartial news source by Indian audiences.

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Broadcasting britishness, strategic challenges and the ecology of overseas broadcasting by the BBC

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

BBC Arabic, Social Media and Citizen Production: An Experiment in Digital Democracy before the Arab Spring

BBC Arabic, Social Media and Citizen Production: An Experiment in Digital Democracy before the Arab Spring

Introduction – South Asian diasporas and the BBC World Service: contacts, conflicts, and contestations

A perspective on BBC television news in India

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