[Swprograms] Role of the BBCWS in the post-Internet world

[Richard Cuff <rdcuff@xxxxxxxxx>]

Interesting weekly column by Normal Lebrecht in

http://www.scena.org/columns/lebrecht/051019-NL-freeloaders.html

He's a classical presenter on BBC Radio 3 and a writer on classical music.

This is interesting because, if this is indeed true, then the Voice Of
America has taken the opposite tack -- that it's more important for
the VOA to present culture than news.

Key paragraph:

"The World Service has no further role as a cultural ambassador. This
may not have been what head mandarin Nigel Chapman wanted to convey,
but by calling time on music, he has brought into focus the sole
purpose of his Service, which is to provide news and commentary in as
many languages as the Foreign Office will pay for at an impeccable
standard of clarity and accuracy, unmatched elsewhere in the BBC. All
else is inessential.

"For the BBC has outgrown its World Service and become a global brand,
dominant in the medium that delivers the bulk of the world's
information and entertainment. On-line, the BBC News website is
required reading for world leaders. BBC America has more hits than
most US cable channels have subscribers. And Radio 3 (where I am a
presenter) is a web hub of classical music and cultural discussion, an
evolution that has ruffled some political feathers."

Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA  USA

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