Tuning In: Overview of the Project
BBC World Service | News and audio in 32 languages
This project analyses diasporic contact zones at the World Service. Since 1932, BBCWS (formerly the Empire Service) has provided a mediated home from home for the worldwide British diaspora. Audiences for its 33 foreign language services (radio; internet; Arabic TV station planned for 2007) also include diverse diaspora populations. As an institution, it has long been a "contact zone" for diasporic (including exilic and refugee) artists, writers and intellectuals: it has provided them with a creative home from home, as well as political opportunities. Little is known about why and how certain diaspora groups connect with their home countries via the BBCWS, but many praise its objectivity and increasing use is made of the opportunities for public debate it offers. In many regions it is the single most trusted information source, and at times of political crisis or ecological disaster, it has often been a lifeline. Its authoritative reach across national and diasporic boundaries may seem paradoxical, given that is funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and has a remit to serve British interests abroad. In fact, astonishingly little research exists on the historical and contemporary work of cultural brokerage and diplomacy performed by BBCWS. The Tuning In project plugs that gap.
News
Voice of Britain coming home (PDF document) - Prof Marie Gillespie
A major research project is focusing on BBC World Service diaspora audiences. Matilda Andersson reports
