The World Service will run out of funding within just three weeks, allowing Kremlin-sponsored propaganda to flood the airwaves during the Iran conflict, BBC insiders fear.
The Government contributed £137m to the global news network’s £400m budget last year.
But that funding arrangement ends at the end of March and BBC sources say there is no plan for what happens next.
Despite having previously made sweeping cuts, the network is playing a central role in the current conflict, with BBC’s Persian service recording an audience spike.
The World Service is currently broadcasting an emergency “lifeline” radio programme, providing information to an Iranian population denied access to the internet. However, there is no funding allocated to continue the programme beyond March.
“The World Service is facing a funding cliff-edge in days,” said a BBC insider. “Where it has had to make cuts, Russian and Chinese propaganda and misinformation has simply filled the airwaves.
“The BBC is the only trusted source of information in many parts of the world and it is in the UK’s national interest for the Government to support it.”
‘Madness’ to cut World Service
Insiders pointed to efforts by the Russian state-backed news channel RT and radio Sputnik – suspended by the EU for spreading “massive propaganda and disinformation” over the Ukraine invasion – to expand their international presence.
When the World Service was forced to close its BBC Arabic radio channel in Lebanon to make cost savings in 2023, Sputnik took over the FM frequency and launched a 24-hour service.
Russia and China are believed to be spending up to £8bn on expanding their global media activities.
Patrick Barwise, emeritus Professor at London Business School and author of The War Against the BBC, told The i Paper: “Cutting the funding of the BBC World Service at a time like this would be madness. Britain’s (and perhaps Europe’s) greatest soft power asset is the BBC World Service.”
He said the World Service’s costs were “negligible” in context. “BBC Persian – a significant soft power asset during the current crisis – costs just £15m a year. The cheapest variant of an F35 warplane costs £60m.”
Dr Andrew Dwyer, a lecturer in information security at Royal Holloway, University of London, previously warned that cuts to the World Service could make way for “alternative narratives from Russia and China that undermine the liberal rules-based order essential to the UK’s prosperity and security”.
BBC News viewing numbers have increased by 20 per cent since the first US-Israeli strikes on Iran (Photo: Getty)Foreign Office to reveal new funding
However, Government funding for the World Service is under threat with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) implementing a cut to the overseas development budget from 0.5 to 0.3 per cent of gross national income by 2027/8 to help boost defence spending. A new settlement is expected before the end of the month.
FCDO Minister Chris Elmore MP told The i Paper: “The work the World Service does as an independent and trusted broadcaster, showcasing the UK, our culture, and our values around the globe, is highly valued by this Government.”
He said the final World Service funding over three years will be announced before the beginning of the 2026/27 financial year.
With the BBC having to make £500m in savings over the next two years, bosses believe it is unfair to ask UK licence fee payers to support an international service that many do not use.
“Funding of the World Service should move back to the UK government and include safeguards so that future funding is secure and stable to allow long-term planning,” the BBC said in its submission to a Government Green Paper on the broadcaster’s future.
The threat of disinformation illustrated the “growing importance of the BBC World Service as a critical piece of national security infrastructure,” it said.
‘Impartial’ news source a lifeline in Iran
A reduced funding allocation would force more cuts on the World Service, which has ceased radio broadcasts in 10 languages including Arabic, Persian, Chinese and Bengali and closed 382 posts as part of a £28.5m savings drive.
Fiona Crack, the interim global director at BBC News said: “The outbreak of war has once again shown the immense value and importance of the BBC World Service to audiences in the UK and around the world during times of global insecurity and instability.”
She added that audiences were particularly reliant on BBC News Persian and BBC News Arabic.
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