ANNEX C
BBC World Service Objectives (As amended 6/88)
BBC World Service, a constituent part of the BBC, shares the general objectives of the Corporation which are defined in the Royal Charter, the Licence and Agreement and also in the Resolution of the Board of Governors of the BBC, dated 8th January 1981, annexed to the Licence and Agreement. Within this overall context, the particular objectives of the BBC World Service are as follows:
1. To provide, in accordance with paragraph 13(5) of the Licence and Agreement, a broadcasting
service to target audiences overseas, in as many languages and for as many hours as are prescribed by the FCO (including the World Service in English) in consultation with the BBC and to plan and prepare such broadcasts in the national interest.
2. To make programmes that are of a high professional standard, relevance and interest, to attract and retain audiences, and thus to enhance Britain's standing abroad and form amongst listeners a better understanding of the UK, its values, way of life, policies and politics.
3. More specifically, to include in its broadcasts:
(a) a credible, unbiased, reliable, accurate, balanced and independent service of news covering international and national developments.
(b) a balanced British view of these developments and of world events in general, taking into account British government policy and a range of international opinion.
(c) an accurate and effective representation of British life, institutions and achievements in the many fields of human activities -political, social, economic, industrial, scientific, literary and artistic - thereby promoting, where appropriate and relevant, British trade, industry, technology and expertise.
4. To transmit such broadcasts by whatever means are most effective and appropriate to ensure the best
audibility for the audiences in the prescribed countries.
5. To increase and improve the understanding and spreading of the English language, in particular
through the programme output and supporting material produced by the English by Radio and Television Department.
6. To promote the sale and distribution of Transcription Service and Topical Tapes programmes as prescribed by the FCO so as to gain wider audiences and to recover, as far as possible, the costs incurred.
7. To provide an efficient and effective monitoring service:
(a) monitoring the broadcasts and news agency transmissions of selected foreign countries for news and information on political, social, enonomic, military and other required matters, meeting as far as possible the priority requirements of the principal customers of the service.
(b) providing the BBC and Government Departments with regular and expeditious documentation of the significant content of such monitoring.
(c) providing a 24-hour service of urgent and immediate news items selected from monitored material.
(d) achieving a financial return on monitoring service products where these can appropriately be sold commercially.
8. To achieve the objectives specified above as efficiently as possible within the constraints of the grants- in-aid, through the exercise of the BBC's management responsibilities and in accordance with good accounting and effective management practice, the requirements of the Charter, Licence and Agreement and the Memorandum on BBC World Service Finance.
9. To advise the Government on the best methods of achieving high quality broadcasting throughout the world both within the agreed pattern of prescription and expenditure and beyond it, and to consider the consequences of anticipated technological advances.
10. To advise the Government on the state of international broadcasting; on developments
(technological, programmatic, geographical and political) planned by other external broadcasters: on the allocation of frequencies under the ITU, such as the various cycles of WARC; and on the state of jamming and how to counter it.
3/10/88
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