Editing BBC World Service (section)

==History==
{{For timeline}}

===Early years===
The BBC World Service began on 19 December 1932 as the '''BBC Empire Service''', broadcasting on [[Shortwave listening|shortwave]]<ref name="WS closures 2005 analysis">{{cite news|last= Repa|first= Jan|title= Analysis: BBC's voice in Europe|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4375652.stm|access-date= 16 July 2012|work= BBC News|date= 25 October 2005|archive-date= 27 July 2008|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080727002945/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4375652.stm|url-status= live}}</ref> and aimed principally at [[English language|English speakers]] across the [[British Empire]]. In his first [[Royal Christmas Message#George V|Christmas Message]] (1932), [[King George V]] characterised the service as intended for "men and women, so cut off by the snow, the desert, or the sea, that only voices out of the air can reach them".<ref name="Historic moments 30s">{{cite web|title= Historic moments from the 1930s|url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1122_75_years/page2.shtml|publisher= BBC World Service|access-date= 16 July 2012|archive-date= 2 May 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130502144345/http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1122_75_years/page2.shtml|url-status= live}}</ref> First hopes for the Empire Service were low. The [[Director-General of the BBC|Director-General]], [[John Reith, 1st Baron Reith|Sir John Reith]], said in the opening programme:

<blockquote>Don't expect too much in the early days; for some time we shall transmit comparatively simple programmes, to give the best chance of intelligible reception and provide evidence as to the type of material most suitable for the service in each zone. The programmes will neither be very interesting nor very good.<ref name="Historic moments 30s"/><ref>Transcribed from recording on World Service 75th Anniversary DVD; full extract transmitted as part of opening program – the Reith Global Debate – of the 'Free to Speak' 75th anniversary season</ref></blockquote>

This address was read out five times as the BBC broadcast it live to different parts of the world.

=== World War II ===

The BBC would continue to claim independence from the Government during the war,{{sfn | Plock | 2021 | p=}}{{rp|25}} but as Asa Briggs noted, a complete picture of the wartime BBC would have to include 'persistent references' to the various connected agencies of the government.{{sfn | Briggs | 1995 | p=}}{{rp|393}} Chiefly, the [[Political Warfare Executive]], responsible for all broadcasts to Europe.{{sfn | Milland | 1998 | pp=353–373}}{{rp|354}}

On 3 January 1938, the first foreign-language service was launched—in Arabic. Programmes in German, Italian and French began broadcasting on 27 September 1938 projecting the British quest for peace in the days prior to the conference on the [[Munich Agreement]].

By the end of 1942, the BBC had started broadcasts in all major European languages. The Empire Service was renamed the '''BBC Overseas Service''' in November 1939, supplemented by the addition of a dedicated BBC European Service from 1941. Funding for these services—known administratively as the '''External Services of the BBC'''—came not from the domestic [[radio licence|licence fee]] but from government [[grant-in-aid]] (from the Foreign Office budget).{{Citation needed|date= July 2017}}

[[File:Aldwych, Bush House, WC2 - geograph.org.uk - 668798.jpg|thumb|right|[[Bush House]] in London was home to the World Service between 1941 and 2012.]]

The External Services broadcast propaganda during the [[Second World War]], on the German-language service {{ill|Londoner Rundfunk|de}} especially against Nazi rule, believed in the early days of the war at least to have weak support.{{sfn | Seul | 2015 | pp=378–396}} Its French service ''{{lang|fr|[[Radio Londres]]}}'' also sent coded messages to the [[French Resistance]]. [[George Orwell]] broadcast many news bulletins on the '''Eastern Service''' during the Second World War.<ref>{{Cite book|title= Orwell: The War Broadcasts|isbn= 0-563-20327-7|editor-last=West|editor-first= W. J.|year= 1985|publisher= Duckworth & Co/BBC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Orwell: The War Commentaries|isbn=978-0-563-20349-0|editor-last=West|editor-first=W. J.|year= 1985|publisher= Duckworth & Co/BBC}}</ref><ref name="WS 40s history">{{cite web|title= Historic moments from the 1940s|url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1122_75_years/page3.shtml|publisher= BBC World Service|access-date= 16 July 2012|archive-date= 8 June 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120608142236/http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1122_75_years/page3.shtml|url-status= live}}</ref> The [[Belgian government in exile]] broadcast from [[Radio Belgique]].

=== Cold War ===

The 1956 [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|Hungarian uprising]] held enormous implications for international radio broadcasting as it related to western foreign policy during the Cold War. Western broadcasts (especially the US's [[Radio Free Europe|RFE]]) incited an expectation of support that had already been decided against by President Eisenhower.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawnsley|1996|pp=67–68}}: On the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|Hungarian uprising]] and the [[Radio Free Europe|RFE]]'s role: "The United Nations Special Committee which investigated the crisis in 1957 concluded that RFE had 'aroused an expectation of support'. In terms of apportioning responsibility, however, this means very little." ''(continued)''</ref>{{rp|67–68}} The BBC, unlike other broadcasters, did not lose credibility in the crisis. It showed sensitivity and acted as its own censor when diplomacy may have been jeopardised otherwise.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawnsley|1996|p=72}}: Rawnsley in the context of the BBC's reporting on the uprising wrote: "Thus despite what its critics assert about Suez the BBC was certainly sensitive of its power and often acted as its own censor where diplomacy may have been jeopardised."</ref>{{rp|72}}

In stark contrast stood the BBC's reporting on the [[Suez Crisis]] of the same year. Although the British government tried to censor the BBC, it continued its even-handed reporting to both home as well as all foreign audiences.{{sfn | Goodwin | 2005}}{{rp|109–114}} The row had the government seriously consider taking over the service when then prime minister [[Anthony Eden]] wanted to ensure that only the government line—that the British and French only invaded Eqypt to keep peace and because its president [[Nasser]] was breaking international law—would reach the home (and international) audience.{{sfn | Economic and Political Weekly | 1968 | p=1680}}<ref name="fairhall20110630">{{Cite news |last=Fairhall |first=John |date=30 June 2011 |title=Drama sparks Suez Crisis memories |url=http://www.edp24.co.uk/norfolk-life/drama_sparks_suez_crisis_memories_1_949446 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141102190920/http://www.edp24.co.uk/norfolk-life/drama_sparks_suez_crisis_memories_1_949446 |archive-date=2 November 2014 |access-date=21 January 2015 |work=[[Eastern Daily Press]]}}</ref>

By the end of the 1940s, the number of broadcast languages had expanded and reception had improved, following the opening of a relay in [[British Malaya|Malaya]] and of the [[Limassol BBC Relay|Limassol relay]] in [[British Cyprus|Cyprus]] in 1957.

Also in 1957, a number of foreign language services were discontinued, or reduced.{{sfn | Rawnsley | 1996 }}{{rp|3}}

In 1962, the [[Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office|Foreign Office]] argued that the [[VOA]]'s philosophy, as presented to it by its then director [[Henry Loomis (broadcasting executive)|Henry Loomis]], not to broadcast to fully-developed allied countries in their respective languages should be adopted by the BBC. The reluctance of the BBC to drop those services was predicted also.{{sfn | Rawnsley | 1996 }}{{rp|2}}

On 1 May 1965, the service took its current name of '''BBC World Service'''.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/history/story/2007/02/070122_html_60s.shtml|title= The 1960s|publisher= BBC World Service|access-date= 25 April 2010|archive-date= 8 November 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111108042303/http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/history/story/2007/02/070122_html_60s.shtml|url-status= live}}</ref> It expanded its reach with the opening of the [[Ascension Island transmitting station|Ascension Island relay]] in 1966, serving African audiences with a stronger signal and better reception, and with the later relay on the Island of [[Masirah Island|Masirah]] in Oman.

In August 1985, the service went off-air for the first time when workers went on strike in protest at the [[British government]]'s decision to ban a documentary featuring an interview with [[Martin McGuinness]] of [[Sinn Féin]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thomas |first=Jo |date=8 August 1985 |title=British Newscasts Stopped by Strike |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/08/world/british-newscasts-stopped-by-strike.html |access-date=6 March 2021 |archive-date=25 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171125155225/http://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/08/world/british-newscasts-stopped-by-strike.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=DeYoung |first=Karen |date=7 August 1985 |title=BBC World Service Falls Silent |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1985/08/07/bbc-world-service-falls-silent/057453eb-f526-49f4-962c-8fb8045c2ab6/ |access-date=6 March 2021 |archive-date=18 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318142421/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1985/08/07/bbc-world-service-falls-silent/057453eb-f526-49f4-962c-8fb8045c2ab6/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=8 August 1985 |title=Strike halts BBC News Worldwide |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-08-08-ca-3574-story.html |access-date=6 March 2021 |work=Los Angeles Times |archive-date=18 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318142434/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-08-08-ca-3574-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Subsequently, financial pressures decreased the number and the types of services offered by the BBC. Audiences in countries with wide access to [[Internet]] services have less need for terrestrial radio.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}} Broadcasts in German ended in March 1999, after research showed that the majority of German listeners tuned into the English-language service. Broadcasts in [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[Finnish language|Finnish]], French, [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], Italian, Japanese and [[Malay language|Malay]] stopped for similar reasons.

===Twenty-first century===

[[File:BBC World Service red.svg|thumb|upright|BBC World Service logo used from 2008 to 2019]]

[[File:BBC World Service 2019.svg|thumb|upright|BBC World Service logo used from 2019 to 2022]]

On 25 October 2005, the BBC announced that broadcasts in [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], [[Croatian language|Croatian]], [[Czech language|Czech]], [[Greek language|Greek]], Hungarian, [[Kazakh language|Kazakh]], Polish, [[Slovak language|Slovak]], [[Slovene language|Slovene]] and [[Thai language|Thai]] would end by March 2006, to finance the launch in 2007 of television news services in [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and [[Persian language|Persian]].<ref name="BBC East Europe voices silenced">{{cite news |title= BBC East Europe voices silenced |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4550102.stm |access-date= 18 July 2012 |work= BBC News |date= 21 December 2005 |quote= Announcing the cuts in October, the director of the BBC World Service, Nigel Chapman, said that the European services were a beacon of free and independent information during the Cold War, but were now in decline. |archive-date= 24 December 2005 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20051224210437/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4550102.stm |url-status= live }}</ref> Additionally, [[Romanian language|Romanian]] broadcasts ceased on 1 August 2008.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7473778.stm |title= BBC shuts down Romanian service |date= 25 June 2008 |work= BBC News |access-date= 29 July 2017 |quote= The BBC World Service is to close its Romanian language service, after 69 years of broadcasting.<br>Transmissions in Romanian will cease on 1 August. |archive-date= 3 March 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160303185334/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7473778.stm |url-status= live }}</ref>

In 2007, the last FM broadcast of [[BBC News Russian]] was discontinued at the order of the Russian government. [[Finam Holdings|Finam]] owned Bolshoye Radio, the last of three services to drop the BBC Russia broadcasts. A spokesman for the organization claimed that 'any media which is government-financed is propaganda – it's a fact, it's not negative'.<ref name="BbcOffFm">{{cite news 
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6951710.stm
| date=17 August 2007
| title=BBC radio ordered off Russian FM| access-date=18 August 2007|work=BBC News}}</ref> Reports put the development in the context of criticism of the Russian government for curbing media freedom ahead of the [[2008 Russian presidential election]].<ref name="BbcOffFm" /> [[Reporters Without Borders]] condemned the move as censorship.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=23321 |title=BBC dropped from Russia's FM waveband today |access-date=24 January 2014 |publisher=[[Reporters without Borders]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030180406/http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=23321 |archive-date=30 October 2007 }}</ref>

In 2011, BBC Kyrgyz service newsreader and producer {{ill|Arslan Koichiev|ky}} resigned from his BBC post after revelations and claims of involvement in the [[Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010|Kyrgyzstan revolution of April 2010]]. He had been based in London, but often travelled to Kyrgyzstan and used BBC resources to agitate against President [[Kurmanbek Bakiyev]], appearing on a Kyrgyz radio station under a pseudonym with a disguised voice. One of the leaders of the revolution, Aliyasbek Alymkulov, named the producer as his mentor and claimed that they had discussed preparations for the revolution.<ref name=revolt>{{cite news |date=7 April 2011 |title=BBC man quits after claims he helped to topple president in Kyrgyzstan revolt |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/bbc-man-quits-after-claims-he-helped-to-topple-president-in-kyrgyzstan-revolt-6389723.html |work=Evening Standard |location=London |access-date=5 April 2018 |archive-date=2 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202081421/http://www.standard.co.uk/news/bbc-man-quits-after-claims-he-helped-to-topple-president-in-kyrgyzstan-revolt-6389723.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
According to London newspaper the ''[[Evening Standard]]'', "Mr Alymkulov claimed that Koichiev arranged secret meetings "through the BBC" and organised the march at the presidential palace on 7 April 2010"<ref name=revolt/>

In October 2010, the UK government announced that it was reducing the service's revenue funding by 16% and its capital funding by 52% by 2017. This necessitated over 650 staff leaving. Funding from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office would end in April 2014, when funding would mainly be from the television licence fee. From 2010, the service started transforming from a mainly radio-based operation to multi-media.<ref name=nao-20160607>{{cite web |url=https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/BBC-World-Service-1.pdf |title=BBC World Service |pages=5–6 |publisher=National Audit Office |date=7 June 2016 |access-date=19 January 2023}}</ref>

In January 2011, the closure of the Albanian, Macedonian, and Serbian, as well as English for the Caribbean and Portuguese for Africa, services was announced. The British government announced that the three [[Balkans|Balkan]] countries had wide access to international information, and so broadcasts in the local languages had become unnecessary.<ref>{{cite news |title= BBC World Service to cut five language services |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12277413 |access-date= 18 July 2012 |work= BBC News |date= 26 January 2011 |archive-date= 26 January 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110126044945/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12277413 |url-status= live }}</ref> This decision reflected the financial situation the Corporation faced following transfer of responsibility for the Service from the Foreign Office, so that it would in future have been funded from within licence-fee income. The Russian, Ukrainian, Mandarin Chinese, Turkish, Vietnamese and Spanish for Cuba services ceased radio broadcasting, and the Hindi, Indonesian, Kyrgyz, Nepali, Swahili, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi services ceased shortwave transmissions. As part of the 16% budget cut, 650 jobs were eliminated.<ref name="WS cuts jan 2011">{{cite news |title= BBC World Service cuts outlined to staff |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12283356 |access-date= 18 July 2012 |work= BBC News |date= 26 January 2011 |archive-date= 5 January 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120105192548/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12283356 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Plunkett |first= John |title= BBC World Service to 'cut up to 650 jobs' |url= https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jan/25/bbc-world-service-jobs |access-date= 18 July 2012 |newspaper= The Guardian |location= London |date= 26 January 2011 |archive-date= 21 September 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130921002915/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jan/25/bbc-world-service-jobs |url-status= live }}</ref>

In 2012, London staff moved from [[Bush House]] to [[Broadcasting House]], so co-located with other [[BBC News]] departments. About 35% of its 1,518 full-time equivalent staff in 2014 were based overseas at 115 locations. From 2014 the service became part of [[BBC World News|World Service Group]] under the Director of BBC News and Current Affairs.<ref name=nao-20160607/>

From 2016, 1,100 additional staff were recruited as part of an expansion of the World Service, about a 70% increase, funded by the [[Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office]] providing £254 million/year for five years, partly a reversal of the government decision that the television licence fee would fund the service from 2014.<ref name=nao-20231217>{{cite web |url=https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/BBC-savings-and-reforms.pdf |title=BBC savings and reform |id=HC 958 |publisher=National Audit Office |pages=s6,22 |date=17 December 2023 |access-date=18 January 2023}}</ref><ref name=holl-20221124/> This was the biggest service expansion since [[World War II]].<ref name=bbcws-20210908>{{cite web |url=https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/36976/pdf/ |title=Written evidence submitted by BBC World Service |id=TFP0035 |work=BBC World Service |via=Foreign Affairs Committee, Parliament |date=8 September 2021 |access-date=18 January 2023}}</ref>

In 2022, a new London-based China unit was in development, described by the government as "focused on exposing the challenges and realities currently facing China and its fight for global influence".<ref name=hansard-20221201/>