From Dr.John Dunn, 10 November
More detail on the impending changes to the BBC's Russian service,
including a list of the programmes due to close and a long interview with
the head of the Russian service, can be found at:
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/russian/programmes/newsid_7716000/7716295.stm>
On the question of broadcasting platforms the BBC does have a problem:
short-wave reception can be difficult and of poor quality: remember the old
joke about the distinguished foreign visitor who learned his English by
short-wave radio; short-wave transmissions can also be jammed (what did the
Russians do with all their jamming transmitters?). Nor does there seem to
be scope at present for expanding other radio outlets. In this context the
wish to concentrate more on the Internet does seem understandable.
Nevertheless there are problems over and above the incalculable threat of
the site being blocked. The first is the BBC creates thge impression of
concentrating its efforts on the c.20% of the Russian population that has
access to the Internet, and by emphasising the use of direct broadcasting,
podcasts and the like, on that subset of the 20% that has access to the
Internet in a form that allows them to use those facilities, which is tough
if you don't have broadband or have access to the Internet only at work.
The other problem is that the more bells and whistles you add to a web-site,
the harder it becomes to use, as the existing BBC English-language web-site
shows only too well. Reception of BBC programmes over the Internet is far
from perfect and, worryingly, seems to have got worse after recent
'improvements'.
Incidentally, I wonder to what extent the BBC, along with other
quasi-official British institutions, are contemplating the implications of
the recent court decision in favour of the British Council.
John Dunn.
Honorary Research Fellow, SMLC (Slavonic Studies)
University of Glasgow, Scotland
Letter to the Times from Robert Chandler and others
12 November
Sirs, In this age of spin, Nigel Chapman's readiness to advertise the fact that the Russian service audience has almost halved (from 1.3 million to 750,000) during the last 3 years of his management is an example of honesty and openness that we should all cherish. Nevertheless, it would be more heartening still if he showed some awareness of the possibility that the decline of his audience might result from a decline in the quality of the service's output. The wish to make current affairs programmes acceptable in style and content on Russian FM stations may have backfired.
It is also possible that this loss of audience is partly due to the short waves cut of 2003 and the loss of the repeats which were the only way of enabling programmes to reach an audience spread across 11 time zones. His lack of awareness of Russian geographical reality (not to mention political reality) is astounding. There is no way of delivering ‘stronger journalism' ‘at times when it has most audience impact' except through the use of the ‘repeats' he speaks of so dismissively. He seems to regard the whole of Russia east of the Urals as an irrelevant appendage to Moscow and Petersburg.
It is equally extraordinary that he should refer to the programmes that are being lost as ‘light feature programmes with little analysis'. A high proportion of the signatories to the 7 November letter have themselves contributed to these programmes; they understand Russian, and unlike the Director of the World Service, know what the programmes are about. Their themes vary from the work of Doris Lessing to the closure of the British Council, from Rostropovich's work in Britain to the Archbishop of Canterbury's book about Dostoevsky, from the analysis of judgments made by the European Court of Human Rights with regard to incidents in Chechnya to a comparison of English and Russian children's playground songs. It is possible that the audience for the service might have increased rather than declined if the BBC had broadcast more, rather than less, of such programmes.
There is an urgent need for a public inquiry into all aspects of the World Service. The problems are not confined to the Russian service. In an attempt ‘to bring producers closer to their audiences', more and more language services are being moved from London to cities in the country concerned. The Urdu service, for example, may well be relocated to Pakistan, where it will obviously be all-but impossible for it to retain its editorial independence. The BBC has already, in 2007, agreed to obtain prior clearance from Pakistan's media regulatory authority for all contents programmes intended for broadcast on a local FM radio station. There are similar stories with regard to other countries.
Yours Sincerely,
Tony Cash (Producer Russian Service 1963-68)
Robert Chandler (translator of Russian literature, co-chair Pushkin Club)
Teresa Cherfas (television and radio producer)
Martin Dewhirst (Honorary Research Fellow, University of Glasgow)
Marina Katzarova (RAW in WAR - Reach All Women in WAR)
Diran Maghreblian (former Russian service producer)
Anna Pilkington (Lecturer, Russian Department, Queen Mary, University of London)
Franklin Reeve (Novelist, poet, scholar, Russian translator)
Andreas Schonle (Professor, Russian Department, Queen Mary, University of London)
Irina Shumovitch, (producer BBC Russian Service 1989-2003)
