World Service gets £7m more over three years
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The BBC World Service received a funding boost yesterday when the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, announced a government grant which will support the BBC Arabic service and throw a lifeline to the threatened Hindi network.
The announcement of a £2.2m grant for each of the next three years followed a government cut of 16 per cent in the World Service's £270m a year budget, decided at a spending review last year. News of the additional money prompted one over-enthusiastic Foreign Office employee to post a headline on the official website of Mr Hague's department declaring a "Massive U-turn on BBC World Service Funding".
Despite an underlying truth in the statement, the civil servant was said to be facing disciplinary action for the embarrassment caused. An FCO spokeswoman said the headline did not reflect the view of the Government. It was swiftly changed to "BBC World Service Funding Review".
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments