Interview: Jim Egan, CEO, BBC Global News Ltd

“We don't really compete directly with the domestic news providers since we have an explicitly international editorial agenda. Obviously, Indian viewers don't come to us for coverage of domestic news; they are looking at stories about the world and India's place in it”

Sohini Sen | Mumbai | April 7, 2014

How does social media affect new broadcasting?

Jim Egan

Social media affects news in three ways. First, it is rapidly changing the way we gather news – social media as a source of what is going on is very important. Second, in news promotion, we use social media to promote our news in different ways. Also, in distribution, how the digital traffic is coming to us through social media is vital in understanding the editorial and commercial impact.

It is definitely something that allows us to access potential news and bring it to people. BBC has crossed 5 million Facebook fans recently. And India plays a big role in that. It allows us to access audiences in slightly different ways.

So, as a promotional tool it is very useful, like you said. But at the same time, doesn't it also open up news broadcasting and content to a lot of criticism? Unlike just traditional news broadcasting, social media has made it a two-way communication where you can get instant feedback.

Yes, there is instant feedback, it keeps audiences engaged and there is real interactivity. But just because social media's reliability is sometimes an issue, it does not fundamentally change the way we bring news at BBC or change our editorial principles around accuracy and authenticity. We give as much important to social mediums as we do to traditional media. But, I take an optimistic view to social media and I think it is opening up new forms of global journalism.

How does it play an advantageous role to bring up new forms of journalism?

Social media increases access to information but it doesn't actually threaten journalism. Good writing and good editorial judgment along with values around trust and authenticity remain crucial. It is something that is adding something to what we are doing.

Coming to news consumption, the way Indians consume news is different from the way it is consumed in the Western world. What is your take on this?

India is quite a strong market for TV news. It is something that has exploded recently, with over 100 news channels jostling for space. There seems to be some particular market sensibilities in play. It is not necessarily the way we do TV news, but I presume it makes some commercial sense for the domestic news providers. We don't really compete directly with the domestic news providers since we have an explicitly international editorial agenda. Obviously the Indian viewers don't come to us for coverage of domestic news; they are looking at stories about the world and India's place in it. And that's what we are doing here.

What is the content strategy for BBC in 2014, both for India and globally?

Convergence is at the heart of everything that we are doing. So, social media; digital media and TV content are coming together in production and distribution. That runs through all of our global strategy.

In India, we are quite focused on the elections. We had our flagship interview programme, 'The HARDTalk', in India with the Indian Finance Minister and a State Minister from Jammu & Kashmir. We had a special series of programmes called 'India Direct' in January and February. We were looking behind the news through this. Next month we will bring the BBC World News to India. So we will be broadcasting from India rather than London for a week. Because of this commitment to our international audience, not just our Indian ones, what's happening here with the election and the democratic process, there is a big spotlight in BBC on India this year.

How different is it from how you cover elections in the UK to what you are planning here?

In essence there is no difference in the way we cover Indian elections to the way we cover any other election. Obviously, the scale and complexity of the Indian election process is a challenge for us. But there is a lot at stake in the elections this time around and people are very interested. We are also going to bring our social media channels like BBC Trending to India in the same week, picking up stories that are happening on Facebook and Twitter and bringing those to the attention of our TV and social media audience.

How are you planning to promote it, especially with smaller pockets in India where BBC does not reach?

We are quite targeted with our marketing, in part because India is quite an expensive place to advertise and promote. And also because we are focused on a large nation and niche audience. So we don't do mainstream marketing. But it is probably more important to get the message out there, especially when the marketplace here is so competitive and congested. We have done some billboard campaigns during the HARDtalk season which were quite successful in two-three metros. So, we are spending on our marketing in India but it is not something like a blanket campaign.

Sohini.Sen@BestMediaInfo.com

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