ELEMENTOS DE ECONOMÍA DE ENERGÍA

BBC Arabic radio service was first and foremost related to British foreign policies. The wide and successful anti-British propaganda broadcasts from Germany and Italy to the heart of British colonies in the Middle East (Boyd; 2003:444) and Britain’s fledgling political and economic status required it to speak to others and project Britain to the world (Taylor; 2007). The idea to have a BBC Arabic service thrived in 1936 but it took two years for this service to make it to air as the idea of having a foreign language radio was regarded by some politicians as propaganda tool that is used by totalitarian states (Mansell; 1982).

Though it is ‘natural’ to think of the Arabic service as a propaganda tool given the circumstances of the launch, the Arabic service was also reputed for its credible news. Many historical accounts show that the BBC put editorial requirements first.

The first Arabic news bulletin was promising for the BBC Arabic service as it told the news in a factual manner. Arabic Radio Service reported that a Palestinian man was executed by the order of a British military court evoking anger in Palestine and the Middle East over the death but also inside the political corridors of Britain. For the BBC, this was broadcasting of ‘straight news’, but for Rex Leeper, the head of the Foreign Office’s news department straight news “must not be interpreted as including news which can do us harm with the people we are addressing. That seems to be sheer nonsense” (quoted in Taylor; 2007: 206).

The differences in editorial policies became a recurrent encounter between the BBC and the FCO, its paymaster. WWII, the first major crisis in the life of the Arabic radio, put the service under pressure from the FCO, to adopt “extreme measures of anti- German (or anti-Axis) propaganda” (El-Issawi and Baumann; 2010: 140), and for the Arabic service news editor to attend the Foreign Office Middle East Department, which BBC did not heed (Mansell; 1982). The service faced mounting and fuelling criticism from the ministry of information for allegedly quoting enemy sources and undermining British interests, that it faced being put under the direct control of the state (Jaber;

2010).

The Arabic service, as historical accounts show, stood up for its editorial independence which was under risk of government influence. The BBC Arabic Radio Service battle to maintain a reputation as an independent organisation, was evidenced during the Suez Crisis in 1956, when Israel, Britain and France attacked Egypt for nationalising the Suez Canal, a move that Britain saw as a threat to its interests in the Middle East. BBCA’s coverage of the crisis was deemed unsatisfactory because it did not broadcast any favourable British news relating to the invasion.

The Ministry of Defence described BBC Arabic service as more opt “to quote the Egyptian rather than the British point of view” (Vaughan; 2010: 507). The FCO embarked on a plan to cut down funds by one million pound as a “means of administering a shock to the BBC and inducing them to reconcile their independence with the need for greater care in consulting their services in the national interest” (Quoted in Partner; 1988: 104).

This international crisis is always taken as a reference point to prove BBC’s standing up for its values as an independent news broadcaster and successfully resisting the pressures of the government as former director general Charles Curran stated (Shaw; 1995). However, the course of events show that the World Service never denied the role it plays to reflect Britain abroad, but it differed with the FO on the mechanism. A BBC memorandum shows that the Arabic service programmes presented the British point of view in a favourable way while focusing on president Gamal Abdel Nasser’s futile economic plans and the difficulties he would face in running the canal. The service even broadcasted some anti-Nasser jokes in a programme called: Political asides” (quoted in Partner; 1988: 102).

Though BBCWS rejected compliance with FCO’s informal guidance, but still it did not renounce its role as a British asset. BBCWS maintained a relationship with the FCO whereby its decisions and practices made would take into consideration the FCO’s position and interests (Gillespie, Webb & Baumann; 2008). The difference was in tactics in how the BBC would reflect Britain’s interests rather than a disagreement on the principle of defending Britain. will trace the relationship between the BBC and the FCO through first measuring BBCA editorial independence and the FCO interference, by looking into major events that put the radio service to test.

The BBC’s editorial line paid off in favour of the government as the BBC gained the trust and backing of the Arab audience (Jaber and Baumann; 2011, Ayish; 1991). But it also paid off for the BBC world service which saw an increase in its funding under the White Paper of 1957 (Jaber and Baumann; 2011). The relationship between the FCO and BBC shifted from a propagandistic direction to “mutual understanding of the role of the BBC as a ‘public diplomat’” (Sreberny, Gillespie and Baumann; 2010). Accordingly, the FCO shifted its tactics of control from censorship to punishment and reward (Sreberny, Gillespie and Baumann; 2010).

The service insisted on maintaining impartiality when broadcasting news but to engage in ‘indirect propaganda’ in debate programmes and chat shows (El-Issawi & Baumann; 2010). It believed that broadcasting credible news reflects positively on the image of Britain. Hence, the Arabic service embarked on engaging with audience, by changing Arabic service programming to be “in harmony with the Arab urge towards the strengthening of their common nationhood”, while also not forgetting the BBC’s British identity, wrote director of near eastern services Sigmar Hillelston (Mansell; 1982: 204). The Arabic service regarded that presenting news of interest to the Arab audience would “create a favourable impression of Britain” (Taylor; 2007: 208).

The 1967 Arab-Israeli war expanded BBC’s popularity because of its extended broadcasting hours, credibility in reporting news as opposed to the Voice of the Arab radio station, and most importantly engagement with the audience through joining efforts to find lost relatives (Aly and Baumann; 2013). Audience studies in the 1960s and 1970s showed that BBC had more than half of all radio listeners, and letters to the station reached over 70,000 in the mid-1980s (Ayish; 1991).

The tactical differences have kept the BBC at good terms with the Arab audiences. The broadcasts ensured the loyalty of the Arab audience loyal and reflected good on the image of Britain. BBCWS defended its independence to maintain its reputation for being a credible source of news; nonetheless it has never renounced its role as an organization that would reflect British interests (Sreberny, Gillespie & Baumann; 2010, Gillespie and Webb; 2013 Sreberny; 2014). The BBC management believed that acting as a cultural diplomacy agent, the overseas services would do better for Britain and its image- by projecting its values and building a relationship of trust with the Arab audience- more than being an arm of direct propaganda (Vaughan; 2008).

The technological transformations of the 1990s and the internet age have brought changes to how BBCWS addresses audiences and how it presented Britain to the Arab world. Communication and engagement with the public abroad became a requirement given that the public became vital players in international politics. It is a shift from a ‘propagandistic approach’ to one that fits more into ‘public diplomacy’ (Sreberny: 2014). The BBC Arabic TV initiative was an outcome of this new change. The establishment of BBC Arabic TV was for “public diplomacy purposes” (Sreberny, Gillespie & Baumann; 2010: 280). But did this shift bring any changes in the overall objectives set for BBCA? Or in their approach to audiences?

BBC Arabic TV channel was keen to launch with programmes that reflect the channel’s keenness of interactivity with the audiences. The BBCATV flagship programme Nuqtat Hiwar, or Talking Point, engages and involves audiences and let them have a say in the causes and issues that matter to them. Yet a study by Hill and Alshaer (2010), of the programme concluded that the questions of debate and the debate itself are in accordance with the FCO’s public diplomacy objectives and the “western liberal democratic standpoint” was evident (Hill & Alshaer; 2010:155). Issues discussed were: Do you support women gaining leadership positions? Or, what comes first for you as an Arab, religion or ethnicity? This puts the audience in a state of “ongoing questioning about their identity, their life and their place in the world” (Hill & Alshaer; 2010:159).

The recent BBC News Arabic Survey (2018/19) which was carried out by the Arab Barometer, interviewed more than 25,000 people face-to-face in 10 countries and the Palestinian territories about a wide-range of subjects including religion, corruption, sex and mental health. The BBC says that the results “give an unprecedented insight into the opinions of those living in the Middle East and North Africa today” (Media Centre; 2019). BBC being the initiator of the survey is the side which decides on the subjects, what to ask, which group of people to ask and where to ask which steers the discussions to its own course. Such coverages have provided “gains for the country associated with that brand” as Lord Carter put it in his UK Public diplomacy review in 2005 (National Archive; 2005: 25).

Despite the BBCWS continuous denial of any public diplomacy activity, yet the broadcasting agreement between the FCO and the BBC that sets out the objectives and targets of the WS clearly requires it to keep British interests in mind while maintaining

its editorial values. This makes it impossible to think of the BBCA as separate from the British establishment (BBC Trust; 2016).