Somali-BBC ….Does it offer any Journalistic values to serve the people?

[Caveman]

The hallmark of Real Journalists is fairness, to serve the powerless and annoy the powerful, and eye to the social conscience of the community they serve. For Somali BBC, forget about fairness and serving the powerless, but they also lost in touch in terms of social consciousness of the very Somali community they claim to serve. Just last week they had a whole segment of the Michael Jackson Debacle, I mean how does a Somali person in Diaspora trying to make ends meet or the Nomad in cities and town of war ravaged Country benefit from Michael Jackson molesting little kids. This was their latest nonsense-and-fill the time slot story, as if the Somali Nation they pretend to serve doesn’t have major issues.

 

The best definition I’d ever heard of Journalism was, “Journalism is about monitoring the sources of power.” yet, one of the last interview I’ have heard from BBC to one of those despot blood-thrust savages went like this, BBC-Reporter" Oo Mudane-X, waxaa nasoo gaartay in ay Ethiopia kugu deeqday hub tiro badan, marka goorma ayaa laga yaabaa in uu hubkaas kusoo gaaro. Maxayna dowlada Ethiopia kaa rajaynaysaa in aad u qabatid, madaama ay kugu deeqday hubkaas tirida badan.?" Hmmmm....can the standard of journalism get any lower at Somali BBC. How about asking “Mudane-X, how much bloodshed is enough?, how many lives have you destroyed while you are blinded by your own personal power.? And how were you able to save your own family, from the horrific carnage you put through other innocent Somalis either fighting for you or dying because of you.?

 

Unless you spent last 14 years under a cave, you wouldn’t know if that BBC questioner is intervening heartless warlord or a fair-minded leader with respectable principle. Yet, that is the statuesque the Somali people expect from BBC. Noticed the prefix: “Mudane-X, Its part of BBC tactic to legitimize these feeble minded cowards to a status they don’t deserve by referring them “Mudane”, “General”, “Dr”, “Xaaji”.

Its my believe that these so called Somali BBC reports (wariyeyaal) are preoccupied with developing their pockets and keeping their daily jobs. Then being responsible Journalism of actually pursuing the truth with single-mindlessness, and revealing unpopular truths others have ignored, avoided, or simply did not see. So, on the process of neglecting their Sole audience (Somali public through out the World) they have helped instilled sense of backwardness to the Somali people every where.

 

Somali BBC reports have only contributed the never-ending cycle of chaos and carnage in Somali. Since BBC Somali has miserably failed serving the public accurately, its equally tragic that there isn’t alternative voice. I urge my fellow nomads to listen other BBC programs in wide ranges of languages that are offered at BBC and compare that to the insurmountable difference of Somali-BBC discourse.

I am not on a crusade against Somali-BBC, but as a young Nomad majoring Journalism I believe Somali BBC is deeply flawed as a profession and helped prolong the senseless civil war.

 

make your self be heard at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/somali/index.shtml

[rudy-Diiriye]

well, couple of things have discouraged from listening to bbc!!

1- the audience that listens to it? not very bright on upstairs!

2- secondly, bbc, dont that stand 4 been been cii

nowadays! its not the ole names any longer~+!

[Liqaye]

brother caveman first off you should understand that this is the BBC SOMALI service, all editorial content and strategic desicions are taken way above the heads of the people translating the BBC agenda to somali.

Some were along the way somalis began to think that it was somehow independant of bush house.

[miles-militis]

Gentlemen,

Journalistic values – I think not. Not any more at least!

 

The BBC at its heydays (Sugule, Idiris, Rashid, Walde, Dalmar & Haaji) used to set not only the journalistic standards for Somali-speaking peoples but was famous for coining phrases, terminology and vocabulary in areas as far diverse as science, technology, economics and information dissemination.

 

Sorry to have to say it, but it no longer does any of the above where the current BBC Somali section is concerned. One could hardly understand what their new breed of reporters are on about half the time except perhaps the likes of Cawke (brilliant vocals when not under the influence), Abdinur Sh Mohamed (excellent quality program producer), Du’ale (finest historian and producer), and Haji (the Brian Walden of Somalia – superior interviewing skills) whom I reckon are the few last standing journalists around. Is it any wonder no one believes in much of what they say, let alone put in printing!

 

Online medium carries far better and more up-to-date news coverage than the old hogs at Bush House.

[king_450]

Well as i have said so many times for so many other sites, i never trusted or liked listening to the BBC- somali news section specially, sometimes you can't differentaite if they are creating a sensation about the story, or making up . So i am still trying not to pay any attention to the BBC wrold service what they say."It is a tool to the thugs and separatists". And i don't know if you'all have noticed the number of news makers that broadcast the news, how did they get the job,is it just because they all speak the same dialect or coincidence. Somalis are a mixture of differnt ppl, we know now for certain that somali ppl have different dialect, so in order to satisfy all somlis i do blv, BBC world service needs to change its practice of hiring only ppl from North, and mingle the somalis who broadcast the news equally. Hire with their knowledg and talent , but not their dailect. So BBC is nothing more then the tools of disguised "Thugs"

[rudy-Diiriye]

i hear you king450! u smashed it on the head!bro..

[NGONGE]

Somalis are a mixture of differnt ppl, we know now for certain that somali ppl have different dialec, so in order to satisfy all somlis i do blv, BBC world service needs to change its practice of hiring only ppl from North, and mingle the somalis who broadcast the news equally. Hire with their knowledg and talent , but not their dailec. So BBC is nothing more then the tools of disguised "Thugs"

I’m not a great fan of that particular service nor does what they broadcast interest me. However, I was under the impression the dialect they used was done for clarity rather than taking sides and so on! I might be wrong of course.

 

As for the service, they’re only giving their listeners what they want. Trivia, easy interviewing techniques and the repetition of things we already heard and read about from family members or online sites is what we got accustomed to. What do we expect? A revolution? Don’t forget that we’re all a nation of roving reporters, my friend. “ Waxa la yedhi”, “ Warka I sii”, “Maxa la sheegay”...etc.... – We set the standards for them to follow.

 

However, I do agree that a lot could be achieved if that station or any others in a similar position were bold enough to test and challenge the statues quo with more aggressive reporting and questioning of those in charge. They could also further improve the understanding and knowledge of the Somali population by producing intelligent, responsible and wide-ranging programs (I disagree with you on the Michael Jackson point by the way).

 

 

I was bored and nobody seems to be here

[Xalimo7]

First of all , slaam, secondly in this situation i am taking points at each side, first my budy K450, your point well taken walaalo,you know i do respect you so much, but then again ,i luv hearing the Northern Dialec more then any other sorry to be bluntly so upfront,cz of my heritage connection, secondly your point of balance news reporters i do agree with you ,it is time that any somali Broadcast system to be one that transmit its news through differnt dialec ,if that is what it takes to unite US all.As far as BBC concern,they are doing their best but sometimes your best might not satisfy every one,so i hope if either one of the representatives of the BBC see this thread to hear the concern of the Somali ppl, and it is time to change and consider the sensativity issue that we are facing at this juncture time.

[Warmoog]

The issue of what dialect(s) to use is marginal in my view. Substance, relevance, objectivity, and professionalism are what the broadcasters and reporters there should focus on rebuilding and strengthening before all else. The BBC Somali Service is clearly not what it used to be. Their standards have degenerated to the point where any reverence now associated with it is linked to nostalgic thoughts of what it was, not present realities. It?'s really an unfortunate situation, but unless those who run and work for that news station make a conscious effort to improve the quality of their programming, their broadcasts will most likely continue to loose what remaining respect they have. I doubt any Somali dialect heard over the speakers will make a difference.

[Liqaye]

^^^The amusing fact about this thread is that half of the people that posted on it construe the issue of dialect to be central in the deterioration of the somali BBC service, whilst the other half enter the disscusion with the assumption that, there having been a deteriration is an obvious fact that has been agreed upon before hand.

 

In speaking of the present day irrelevance of the BBC somali service am I being led to believe that any of the radio services dedicated to the promotion of warlords or the arguments for tribal bantustans are doing any better?

[king_450]

I doubt any Somali dialect heard over the speakers will make a difference

.

How untruthfull this quote is.

I have to adimit that i like your posts and replies "yasmine",but this time you are way out of the truth. when on earth does it become not to matter one's dialect,i think that is what is causing all these hublas, people completely looking the other way and saying whatever comes to their little brain,by doing just that it might cause one to snap and hit the opposite direction.

 

To Xalmia7, sister no bad feeling toward you, you are well spoken person and i blv your freedom of speech.

[Warmoog]

Maansoor,

I couldn’t help raising an eyebrow at your statement about not talking “like a Westerner”. It was rather odd to see such a comment in this thread of all places… a discussion dedicated entirely to the recent degeneration and failings of what is arguably a Western invention (i.e. the BBC Somali Service). It may actually serve you well to account for and consider the position of the “Western” factors in the equation. Last I checked, the BBC was neither owned nor executively run by Somalis. Do control and ownership not have something to do with the equal representation of which you speak? If anything, it has to be set in place by those at the top – the ones with enough power to implement change – so I really don’t know why you’d want to constrict dialogue so that it becomes exclusively ‘about Somalis’… more specifically, about a few dispensable BBC workers of Somali origin and a largely disgruntled audience that’s equally powerless, if not more so.

 

King,

To be quite frank, had I made a complaint about my dialect not being used to present news on the BBC or something of that nature, I’m sure you would have found “truth” – or should I say “your truth” - in my perspective. Needless to say, I made no claim of speaking for you or anyone else. My prior statements were based on personal opinion and that was made more than obvious. Differences of opinion are healthy, but claiming another’s views or statements are “untruthful” - without bothering to clearly point out the source of their falsehood - simply because you disagree is really pushing the limits. If you calculate how truthful people are by the degree to which their views correspond with yours, then I suggest you brace yourself for a world full of liars.

 

* * * * * * *

On a more general note, I don’t think there’s any one region or group of people who’re entirely satisfied with the BBC Somali Service. Many Somalilanders say it’s biased against them, while a lot of southern Somalis say it provides accurate news about the north but presents news from the south in a very unbalanced manner by creating a more favourable image of certain political groups, or by always reporting conflict and chaos while broadcasting few specialized programs about positive developments (ex: telecommunications and other successful businesses).

 

Anyway, I think we should be fairly reasonable in our expectations of the BBC. I can understand criticisms against poor quality and substance, but why some people focus solely on the dialect issue is beyond me. It’s commonly known that certain changes have taken place behind the scenes at the Somali Service in recent years, making its crew more diverse (in terms of dialect) today than ever before. Exactly what prompted those changes and whether they place the BBC in a better position today (than say a few decades ago) is debatable and really depends on who you ask.

 

Even so, I think using dialect as one’s sole criticism of the BBC is misleading in more ways than one. Not only does their crew seem more diverse today than ever before, the focus on dialect is also questionably vain. The accent in which someone speaks Somali, after all, has no bearing on whether he/she is a capable journalist… much less a talented one. So in focusing on that one issue, a lot of people seem eager to overlook the BBC’s more severe deficiencies. It leaves me wondering whether such people sincerely want good reporting (valid, honest, objective, etc.) or whether they simply want to hear “their own” over the speakers. I suspect the latter is true for many of them and, sadly, a few superficial adjustments would appease them… the same partial, irrelevant, and incomplete news (often involving whatever smidgen of creativity it takes to translate the work of English reporters into Somali) could simply be voiced in a variety of localized dialects... and it might bring a smile to their faces, but the core problem – that of lacking quality, substance, and professionalism - would remain unresolved.

[Paragon]

BBC is nothing more than a messenger. Its like an enterpreneur employing 'Demand and Supply'. The blame shouldn't be placed on th BBC since all they do is provide what many Somalis ask for, out of their own free will.