BBC World Service to sign funding deal with US state department

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

The BBC World Service is to receive a "significant" sum of money from the US government to help combat the blocking of TV and internet services in countries including Iran and China.

In what the BBC said is the first deal of its kind, an agreement is expected to be signed later this month that will see US state department money – understood to be a low six-figure sum – given to the World Service to invest in developing anti-jamming technology and software.

The funding is also expected to be used to educate people in countries with state censorship in how to circumnavigate the blocking of internet and TV services.

It is understood the US government has decided the reach of the World Service is such that it makes investment worthwhile.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/mar/20/bbc-world-service-us-funding

[tularetom]

1. Maybe they can "combat the blocking of service" here in the US

It'd be nice to be able to get real news from somewhere. (Besides DU).

[glinda]

3. +1000

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

4. I don't know how much "blocking of service" we have here

but it would be nice to combat the "blocking of funding" that's roaring through congress

[mattvermont]

2. but we cannot give any money

to NPR...an organization that serves in many ways to protect our own democracy.

[JDPriestly]

5. Try Ian Masters on KPFK.

http://www.ianmasters.org/

There is also Democracy Now.

http://www.democracynow.org/

There is also Thom Hartmann on RT, and there are some good MSNBC programs.

A few good programs are available. The problem is that Americans don't bother to listen to them or watch them. It is important to drop your cable subscription and support programs that inform. Your cable is, in general, about selling stuff to you that you do not need or want.

KPFK, a Pacifica station, is listener supported. Ian Masters interviews the experts. His show cannot be beat.

Thom Hartmann entertains and informs as do the MSNBC folks. (MSNBC is sponsored by corporations.)

I don't work for any of these programs or stations and am not affiliated with them in any other than as a listener or viewer.

I'm not posting this to criticize BBC. I used to listen to the BBC a lot when I lived in Europe.

[marasinghe]

8. yes. Amy Goodman has been fighting the good fight for a long time.

and she put her life where her mouth is & got her skull crushed by army goons (along with the beating up of her fellow journalist Allan Nairn), back in East Timor, reporting on the Indonesian Govt. (with the tacit support of the US Govt.) atrocities against the Timorese. and she's been fighting it almost alone, with a very few friends in her corner. re-posting your link to Amy's "Democracy Now" -- to the donations page. they could sure use help; and we could sure use her truth-telling.
http://www.democracynow.org/get_involved/donate

[marasinghe]

6. well, that's the sound of another, once-great, news bureau, biting the dust.

though, the Brit Govt. has been pushing the envelope in this direction, for the past couple of years. bury the BBC, along with NPR & PBS; with a lament for what once was.

i guess the PTB decided -- since murdoch's news corp. is now under investigation -- they might as well cut all pretense & switch to the main funding source for bullshit in the 21st century.

[bhikkhu]

7. We'll fund the BBC, but not NPR?

I like both, but there is some irony in the timing.

[Lucinda]

9. I'm tired, so maybe I'm missing something but

at first glance, I dislike everything about this story. Why are we handing over buckets full of cash to another country's television station so they can develop software to prevent blocking their transmissions? Why is that our financial responsibility?

[Raschel]

11. I'm missing it too. Just how do we have money for this but not for SS or medicare?

:wtf:

[Raschel]

10. So does this mean the BBC will report favorably on the US government?

[lithiumbomb]

12. Currently funded by Foreign Office anyway...

The BBC World Service is currently funded by the British Foreign Office, much like our State Department, though its funding will change to Radio/TV license fees from UK subscribers in a few years. It's always been a diplomatic/international public relations tool at its heart, despite being generally worthy.

The BBC World Service is the worldwide radio network and is not the same thing as BBC World News that we currently read or view in this country.

[No Elephants]

13. Foreign Office is a UK govt entity funding a UK corp. with UK tax $$. So, nothing like

what we're about to do.