Outgoing Director Urges Action To Sustain BBC World Service Against International State-Backed Competitors

Landor was speaking at a recent event highlighting the role of the BBC World Service and said: “We cannot be overtaken by better-resourced competitors.” (Lewis Whyld/PA Wire URN:11021826)

Outgoing BBC World Service director Liliane Landor cautioned that the service could fall behind as Russia and China aggressively fund their global media ventures, calling for preservation of its capability and relevance.

According to Press Gazette, Landor was speaking at a recent event highlighting the role of the BBC World Service and said: “We cannot be overtaken by better-resourced competitors.”

Landor, who will step down in July, revealed that 72 percent of the World Service’s audience come from regions with little media freedom, placing enormous pressure on journalists working under challenging conditions but that despite its cast outreach, the service was vulnerable to potential funding cuts.

The BBC World Service, historically paid for by the UK Foreign Office, is now primarily financed through the licence fee. With a current budget of £352 million, Landor called for a sustainable funding model echoed by Landor so the broadcaster could maintain its position as a strong, independent, and strategically clear international competitor.

She continued: “The challenge for me, for us, is how to remain present on the ground and relevant for our audiences amongst fierce competition from state actors like Russia and China [who are] investing heavily in Africa, in Asia, in the Caribbean, in the Middle East, in old and new Media… We need to compete. And in order to compete, we need resources, and we need to remain relevant.”

Press Gazette pointed out that Landor’s comments align with concerns raised in March at a Royal Television Society event by BBC director-general Tim Davie, who criticised a financial strategy that risks one of the UK’s key soft power tools.

Davie said: “We cannot keep asking UK Licence Fee payers to invest in [the World Service] when we face cuts to UK services.”

He added: “Russia and China are investing hard, and not properly funding one of the UK’s most valuable soft power assets makes no sense economically or culturally.”