World Service - World Have Your Say - Ros Atkins

We're not here, we're there...

Ros Atkins Ros Atkins — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 09:46:02 +0000

Hi. For a variety of reasons we're not using this blog at the moment. Primary among them is that the vast majority of our regular contributors have made it clear they'd prefer to take part in WHYS on our facebook page and on twitter. For the moment then, we'll give the blog a rest. Just in case you're a new arrival, you can listen to WHYS live on the BBC World Service at 1200 and 1700 or 1800GMT (depending on whether you're in Africa or not), and see us on BBC World News TV at 1500GMT on Fridays. Speak to you soon...

Ten years on...

Ros Atkins Ros Atkins — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:13:56 +0000

WHYS is heading to the States next week to explore the long-term impact that the 9/11 attacks have had on America. We're going to begin in Indianapolis (where we'll be helped by our friends at WFYI), and over three programmes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, I'll help out at a BBQ stand at Rib America festival, at a hospital and at a reform institution for people serving prison sentences.

Then we move onto New York, from where we'll broadcast a studio show on the Thursday, before stepping onto the streets of Manhattan for a range of broadcasts on the Friday.

If you'd like to take part in any way, get in touch with me on twitter or facebook.

Blog business

Ros Atkins Ros Atkins — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 14:28:19 +0000

Ever since we shifted our blog from Wordpress to the BBC system it's not been anywhere near as busy. This is partly to do with the growth of facebook (and in particular our facebook page), partly that some of you don't like signing up for a BBC ID, partly that we've had problems being able to moderate your comments immediately (not so often, but we know it's frustrating when it happens), and partly because we're as yet not as connected with bbcnews.com as we'd like.

Now, that last point is going to be addressed in the next few months, so until that happens we're going to reduce what we do here.

If you want updates on our subjects each day, then our facebook page will have what you're looking for.

However, we will still use this blog if we want to write at more length than facebook allows, and we'll then post the link across onto twitter and facebook.

There may be other reasons beyond the ones I list above for the drop in activity, and we're all ears if you have suggestions for what we should do more or less of when we kick start this blog in a few months' time.

On air at 17GMT: What are we learning about the UK?

Ros Atkins Ros Atkins — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 14:48:07 +0000

This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 18 July, 2011. Listen to the programme here.

The story keeps on rolling.... John Yates of the Metropolitan Police has resigned, the day after his boss chose to go. You can get all the latest here. I wouldn't dream of second-guessing where this story will be come 17GMT, but wherever we are we can be certain there will be yet more cause to consider what all of this says about the UK. We're inviting foreign correspondents based in London to join me in the studio to chew over the latest developments and what we are learning about the state of this nation. You're welcome to join in.

ON AIR: TALIBAN VIDEO WATCHED BY 1000s
Many people around the world have been watching a video of what appears to be Taliban fighters from Afghanistan executing Pakistani policemen on the Pakistan side of the border between the two countries. You can see part of it here, and be warned it makes for very uncomfortable viewing.

We're going to hear your reaction to it. Unsuprisingly you're almost all unified in your disgust, but the conclusions you're drawing about the future of Pakistan and Afghanistan are very different.

The video has appeared as Gen David Petraeus has ended his time as the US commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan.

ON AIR TOMORROW
Rupert and James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks will be taking questions from a UK parliamentary committee tomorrow afternoon (local time). You'll get it all live on the BBC World Service and I'll be at Westminster and Chloe will be out of town (venue to be decided) to get reaction to their answers.

On air at 17GMT: Media bosses and the politicians

Ros Atkins Ros Atkins — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 14:33:29 +0000

Bearing in mind that the UK Parliament's Culture, Media and Sport committee looks unlikely to hear from Rupert Murdoch, our chances of getting him onto WHYS are on the thin side. We know though that you're very interested in what influence those who own significant media interests in your country believe they have or should have over politicians. The relationship between media and politicians needs to be reset says David Cameron, and I'm curious how media owners want that relationship to be. So we're going to try and get their side of the story.

Your nominations pls: Which media owners should we invite onto the show? Please post them here.

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He's out

Ros Atkins Ros Atkins — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 14:25:57 +0000

We've just heard that Urunboy Usmonov has been released on bail in Tajikistan. It's fantastic news, though it's worth adding that he can't leave the country and may yet be charged. But by all accounts his custody was taking a heavy toll, and we're delighted that he doesn't have to endure that any longer. We'll read your comments out for him on today's show.

On air at 17GMT: Rupert Murdoch closes News of the World

Ros Atkins Ros Atkins — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:36:11 +0000

This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 7 July, 2011. Listen to the programme.

UPDATE: News International has announced the edition of the News Of The World this Sunday will be the last one ever. Full reaction on WHYS at 1700GMT.

Ros's original blog post: I began my morning looking at the Huffington Post's new UK incarnation. And swiftly moved to the Independent as the HuffPo was linking across to a column by former WHYS presenter Steve Richards. In it he argues that this week the influence of Rupert Murdoch over British politicians has been reduced, and that that is to be celebrated.

There is certainly is no disputing the scale of Mr Murdoch's influence not just in politics, but also sport, news, films and to a lesser extent music (mySpace didn't go to plan and has recently been off-loaded).

A blog post is not the place for a broad ranging sweep of Rupert Murdoch's power and influence (there have been books which struggled to pack it all in), but I can start a conversation about whether we should acknowledge, that with that power and influence has come innovation, entertainment and investment in the media that we like to consume.

Let's consider some of this:

]]>POLITICS
Rupert Murdoch famously invited Tony Blair to visit him while Mr Blair was the leader of the opposition. Shortly after the soon-to-be leader jumped on a plane to Australia for a meeting. It was a measure of Mr Murdoch's importance - and you could argue that Tony Blair had a point as The Sun, The Times, the News of the World and the Sunday Times are all in his stable.

And it's not just in the UK where Rupert Murdoch has serious political influence. No US politician could afford to not speak to Fox, and in Australia, politicians are as keen to keep the Murdoch press sweet as their British counterparts. How politicians should approach the man is addressed in this Matthew d'Ancona column.

Another important question here is whether that's any different to any number of other businesspeople and media owners trying to have their say.

JOURNALISM
Fox News may not to be everyone's taste, but it's handed out some lessons on how to get people watching news in decent numbers, and how to up the ante on the style of TV news. Those of us who work for BBC News watch Sky News closely, not just because it's a rival but because it has an appetite for innovation that makes you think about what you do. I'm not saying I like everything Fox and Sky go for, but they're pushing things all the time and that, you could argue, has forced TV news to evolve.

In a completely different arena, let's remember that it was Rupert Murdoch more than anyone else who has bucked the trend of free content online, and said to us all pay or you won't see it. We won't be left wondering if paywalls work, because News International is happy to find out for us, putting up restrictions on The Times' website for instance.

TELEVISION
There's huge investment taking place in India and China to add to vast cash injections into US national and regional stations. Again, the presence of Murdoch stations not only gives you more to watch but arguably gives you something distinct to watch too (though some of you may not like it). It's worth adding that it's Mr Murdoch who pays for the Simpsons.

FILM
Rupert Murdoch owns 20th Century Fox and as such is a huge player in the film industry. Did you see Avatar? The hundreds of millions that that ground-breaking film cost were put up by 20th Century Fox. I'm not saying if the film was good or not, but James Cameron was given the means to do some things which hadn't been done before. Should we applaud the investment? Here's a list of other big 20th Century Fox films.

SPORT
The English Premier League has been built on Rupert Murdoch's money. If you like seeing Drogba, Tevez, Fabregas, Nani and co ply their trade for the big English clubs, that is in no small part to the huge lift in incomes which came with Sky's investment in the game. That's not to mention the revolution in the way that it was filmed.

Australian and American sport too have seen major investments from News Corp owned companies.

And on I could go.

There are clearly criticisms of News of the World practice that everyone is agreed are warranted. There's also long-standing hostility to Rupert Murdoch in many different quarters. But does the scale of his vast media empire necessarily mean that it's to be seen as a threat rather than a valid contributor to the media we all consume.

Over to you...

On air at 17GMT: What would you ask the tabloids?

Ros Atkins Ros Atkins — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:09:06 +0000

This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 6 July, 2011. Listen to the programme.

The phone-hacking scandal is developing at a bewildering rate at the moment, and remains among the top stories in the world. Yesterday, the deputy PM said a public inquiry wasn't necessary, now today the PM tells us it is. That's a measure of how the seriousness of the matter is escalating.

Meanwhile, the not guilty verdict in the Casey Anthony case is proving by a long shot the biggest talking point in the States.

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Ask those of you in America why so many people thought she was guilty, and many will answer, 'the media'. Some stories are inevitably very big, this though, you can certainly argue, was made into a huge story by the media. Was it responsible as it drove interest in the story? Did some media outlets run stories that had no place in teh public domain such was the desire to get the next scoop?

Tabloid journalism is tough to define, but in our definition we can include a passionate interest in the lives of celebrities, politicians and ordinary people in extraordinary situations, a flamboyant and entertaining style, and a tenacious approach to getting the story (one guest yesterday called it 'blagging').

These two stories in their different ways shine the spotlight very brightly on tabloid journalism and whether its means are justified by its stories.

We're inviting a range of tabloid journalists past and present to answer your questions about the nature of their work. Please post them here and I'll update this with their names and details as and when they get booked for the show.

It's worth adding that the area between the tabloid journalist and other journalists is a very grey one, and of course some of what I put in my definition earlier could certainly be applied outside of the tabloids.

On air at 17GMT: Milly Dowler, phone hacking & the state of British journalism

Ros Atkins Ros Atkins — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 16:14:00 +0000

I've just arrived fresh from Television Centre to be told that WHYS is off to a pub on Fleet Street to discuss the state of British journalism. This follows the accusation that nine years ago the News of the World newspaper hacked the voicemails of a British teenager who was missing at the time. She was later found to have been murdered.

We'll post pictures and videos to flickr, update facebook and so on while we're down there. It's a ten minute walk so we'll be at the pub shortly. And while we're there, I'll be joined by journalists who want to talk with you and me about what has happened to the trade which evolved in the offices of Fleet Street.]]>

On air at 17GMT: The Greece crisis continues

Ros Atkins Ros Atkins — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 14:23:18 +0000

On today's programme, we'll build-up as detailed a picture as we can of what's happening in Greece with the help of people who are there. And we'll reflect on the newspaper columns and blog posts around the world taking different perspectives on the crisis. If you've seen a piece you'd like to recommend, pls post the link.

This is where we are with Greece:

- a 48-hour general strike has begun

- the protests in Athens have turned violent

- Jurgen Stark, a member of the European Central Bank's Executive Board, has said Greece defaulting on its debt repayments could overshadow the collapse of Lehman Brothers

- the vote in the Greek parliament on the austerity measures that the eurozone and the IMF have made a pre-requisite for a second bail-out is tomorrow

Speak to you about it all later.

Are the Arab uprisings driven by outside plots?

Ros Atkins Ros Atkins — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 15:12:51 +0000

From the start of the Arab uprisings, those in power have been making accusations of outside involvement and plotting. Hosni Mubarak consistently blamed Al Qaeda for the Egyptian unrest.

Today, Bahrain has accused Iran of seeking to destabilise the country.

]]>Also this week Syria has accused the EU of deliberately fomenting 'chaos'.

Meanwhile the Syrian foreign minister has accused al Qaeda of being behind some anti-government operations. Col Gaddafi has made similar claims through-out the conflict there.

Go back to the days of the Egyptian revolution and you'll see that Al Jazeera and other media outlets were accused of having anti-Mubarak agendas.

I remember a couple of weeks ago in Egypt that several people saw the overtures of the IMF and the World Bank as part of a greater Western plot to seize control of Egypt and its economy.

Do you believe that the uprisings are what they at first they seem? Is this simply a series of campaigns to bring better democracy and human rights to each country that's been affected? Or are there more sinister and complex forces at play?

On TV at 15GMT: Your questions on the Arab Uprisings

Ros Atkins Ros Atkins — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 14:03:06 +0000

It worked very well on the radio on Wednesday, so we'll continue the format on TV today. There are so many questions and issues that you're raising, we'll get through as many as we can with our invited guests. They are:

Sandmonkey, Egypt's best-known blogger - live from Cairo

Mona Eltahawy, Arab affairs analyst and prolific tweeter - live from LA

Paul Whiteway, former British diplomat in Syria - live from London

David Ignatius, Associate Editor of the Washington Post - live from DC

Please leave questions for them here.

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Would you stop?

Ros Atkins Ros Atkins — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 13:55:26 +0000

I've just been finding out about an astonishing story in Russia. This is comes via our colleagues at bbcrussian.com. The police there faked a car accident, and got a child to lie on the side of the road covered in red paint. No-one stopped, no-one called the police.

Oleg in Sochi emailed: 'The fact that no one called to emergency services proves that police were right to stage the accident. It would be interesting to do the same experiment in other countries to see the difference.' I agree it would be. that may be difficult, but we can at least ask those of you who follow WHYS whether you would stop where you live?

I remember when I lived in Jo'burg in 1997/1998 and I had to swerve to avoid hitting a body lying in the road. It was 4am and near Hillbrow (the city's most dangerous area) and I kept on driving. It felt uncomfortable to do so, it also felt very foolish to stop.

On air at 17GMT: More of your questions on the Arab Uprisings

Ros Atkins Ros Atkins — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 15:23:27 +0000

It might be coming on for six months since this unrest began, but the issues and the questions thrown up by the numerous different scenarios playing out keep coming. We're putting together of experts inside and outside of the BBC to answer any questions you have on any of the countries involved.

SYRIA LATEST / LIBYA LATEST / TUNISIA LATEST / YEMEN LATEST

YOUR GREEK RIOT REPORTS
We're collating what's coming out of Athens and will mix that with some of your calls. Here's the latest.

Speak to you later.

WHYS in Cairo

Ros Atkins Ros Atkins — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 10:36:26 +0000

Hi everyone from a hotel just to the side of two pyramids on the outskirts of Cairo. This picture is taken from front of the terrace where we'll be based (for lots of more photos of where we've been, see our flickrstream). We've just finished a big production meeting ahead of tomorrow's live TV and radio debates where we're bringing together WHYS and BBC Arabic. All seems to be going to plan but then we haven't broadcast anything, so we're not counting our chickens yet. We're also on air for the radio today at the usual time.

If you want to get in touch with us or comment on our broadcasts over the next 48 hours, we're using the #bbccairo hashtag.

First things first here are the details of when we're broadcasting tomorrow.

]]>I'll be on air for five minute items throughout the morning and early afternoon on BBC World News TV and BBC World Service radio. Then we get to the main events which are:

15GMT: Talking Point on BBC Arabic television

16GMT: WHYS on BBC World News television

16GMT: Talking Point on BBC Arabic radio

17GMT: WHYS on BBC World Service radio

1830GMT: WHYS Extra on BBC World News television

Then I'll have a couple more reports on the TV and we'll be done.

I've done WHYS long enough now to know that trying to second guess what we may talk about beyond a few hours in advance is almost always a futile exercise. But I can certainly see some broader issues that seem very unlikely to go away. They include:

- The difference between the UN response to Libya and to Syria

- How to counter the negative economic consequences of unrest

- Where Islam belongs in the new societies that protestors are trying to create

- If President Saleh is risking civil war by refusing to hand over power

- Whether women and young people continue to be unfairly excluded from political power in Egypt and Tunisia

We'll have people from all over the Arab world with us here by the pyramids. Of course we may not get to any of the subjects above but they are potential starting points. If you'd like to add to the list of issues we should consider talking about, pls post here.
In the meantime, I've got to prep for today's WHYS on the radio which is also from Cairo. Speak to you then.