| Type | Radio network and website |
|---|---|
| Country | |
| Availability | International |
| Endowment | Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK |
| Owner | BBC |
Launch date | 18 July 1957 |
| Webcast | www |
Official website | www |
| Language | Somali |
The BBC Somali Service is a BBC World Service radio station transmitted in the Somali language and based in Broadcasting House in West London and in Nairobi, where most of the radio and digital operations are based. Most of the listeners live in the Horn of Africa and nearby regions. [1] According to the station, it provides a key link between those in Somalia and those elsewhere. [2]
Established on 18 July 1957 with two weekly programmes of 15 minutes each, the station made the broadcasts daily by September 1958, and on 1 July 1961 the two parts were joined and the programme time increased to 30 minutes. Increases in broadcast frequency have been made since. [3] They currently broadcast 3 half-hour programmes and one 1-hour programme daily. The station has been developing local networks in all over Somali speaking areas in Somalia, Djibouti, the Somali region of Ethiopia and North Eastern Kenya plus the Somali diaspora all over the world. [4] In August 2010 AllAfrica.com reported that Shabelle Media Network had started broadcasting some of the station's programmes. [5]
Since Yusuf Garad left the BBC, the Somali service never returned to the management of a Somali professional. First, Andres Ilves had been appointed as acting head of the service for nearly two years then Josephine Hazeley, deputy head of BBC Africa, had been appointed as a caretaker. Following the recruitment process for a new BBC Somali Editor, Abdirahman Koronto [6] was offered the position of BBC Somali Output Editor, [7] a position that was line managed by the then Editor of BBC Africa, Ibrahima Daine who was appointed as the acting editor of BBC Somali. A new role was created and advertised for a joint Swahili and Somali service based in Nairobi, Kenya. Caroline Karobia was named editor of the new service. In June 2017, the BBC decided to split the Swahili and Somali services. In August 2017, Abdullahi Abdi Sheikh was appointed as Editor, BBC Somali Service. On 28 October 2019, Abdullahi Abdi Sheikh resigned as editor. On 16 March 2020, Muhyadin Roble who worked at Radio Ergo (formerly IRIN SOMALI SERVICE) was appointed as editor of the service.
In addition to the online webcast, the BBC Somali radio programmes are known to be broadcast on FM in 5 areas as of December 2024: Baidoa, Kismaayo, Hargeisa, Burao, and Djibouti City. [8]
As of 23 December 2024, the Al-Dhabiyya (United Arab Emirates), Al Ashkharah, and Talata Volonondry transmitting stations were known to broadcast Somali programming on varying shortwave frequencies, with the hours ranging from 1 hour 30 minutes on Mondays-Fridays to 8 hours on Sundays. [9]
Charles Allen wrote in 1997 that in Somalia, a country having "three or four separate ruling factions, each with their own radio services", the station is the "one single voice which serves all Somali speakers, and keeps the idea of being Somali alive". [10] The station is successful, Allan reports, partly because of their aim to have reporting originating in the Somali language, rather than having translations from English. Pierce Gerety, a UNICEF representative in Somalia, said it is the most important news source in the country, and that many of the citizens were listeners. [10] Anthony Oldin contrasts its perceived unbiased reporting with the media in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, in which news organisations spread misinformation and encouraged ethnic groups to kill one another. [11] In partnership with the Africa Education Trust the station launched in March 2002 an educational programme in Somalia. [12]
The station is important for Somalis in the United Kingdom, because they rely on it to connect to Somalia. A poll by the station found that 99 percent of Somalis in the UK listen to it. Somalis view radio listening as a social activity, and therefore listen in khat houses, mosques, and Somali shops. [13] [14]
The station has, however, received criticism. Siad Barre, the president of Somalia, said in 1985 the station and the West had misrepresented his country, and criticised it for speaking to Somali dissidents who had hijacked a Somali Airlines plane. [15]
In 2006, a former service member for over 30 years said the station's aim is to spread British propaganda and that they are keen to see Somalia split up. [16]
In 2007, Jimma Times reported that people in Somalia were accusing the station of being biased, one person saying the station was engaging in a "media propaganda war". [17]
In March 2010, Liban Ahmad, a former trainee at the BBC, accused the station of misleading listeners, citing examples of headlines from the station such as "Somaliland Guantanamo" and "Soomaali al Qaacida ah" (Al Qaida Somalis). [18]
In April 2010, Ibrahim Sheikh-Nor, writing in Hiiraan Online, accused Omar of having excessive control over the station and of running it like a "proprietor outfit". [19]
Puntland, officially the Puntland State of Somalia, is an autonomous territory formed in 1998 that became a federal member state. Puntland is located in the northeastern part of Somalia and its state capital is the city of Garoowe in the Nugal region. The region had a population of 4,334,633 in 2016.
BBC Asian Network is a radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially those between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has production centres at Broadcasting House in London and The Mailbox in Birmingham.
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was a Somali politician and former military officer. He was one of the founders of the rebel Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF), as well as the Puntland state of Somalia, the latter of which he served as the first president. In 2004, Yusuf also helped establish the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), which he led as President of Somalia from 2004 until 2008.
The Darod is a Somali clan. The forefather of this clan is Sheikh Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti, more commonly known as Darod. The clan primarily settles the apex of the Horn of Africa and its peripheries, the Somali hinterlands adjacent to Oromia (Ogaden), and both sides of the Kenya–Somalia border. The Darod clan is the largest Somali clan family in the Horn of Africa.
Yusuf Haji Nur was a Somali politician and lawyer. He was Chief Justice of Puntland.
The Awrtable is a Prominent Somali sub-clan from the Darod clan.
Buuhoodle, also known as Bohotle, serves as a significant border town for the movement of goods between Khaatumo and the Somali Region of Ethiopia. The surrounding district is rich in livestock with growing agricultural activities.
Mustafa Haji Abdinur is a Somali journalist and radio correspondent. He was awarded a CPJ International Press Freedom Award by the Committee to Protect Journalists in 2009.
Widhwidh, also known as Widh Widh, is a town located in the Buuhoodle district of Cayn, Somalia.
Garad Jama Garad Ali is the 21st supreme traditional clan Sultan (Garaad) of the Dhulbahante. He has significant influence in Somalia's current politics, particularly in Ssc-Khatumo.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperations is the Somali government ministry which oversees the foreign relations of Somalia. The current minister is Ahmed Moalim Fiqi.
Ahmed Ismail Hussein Hudeidi, known as Hudeidi or Xudeydi, was a Somali musician who played the oud and composed songs.
Garad Saleban Garad Mohamed was a Somali clan leader. He was the supreme Garad of the Mohamoud Garad and the second most senior traditional leader of the Dhulbahante clan.
BBC Hausa is the Hausa-language service of the BBC World Service meant primarily for Hausa-speaking communities in Nigeria, Ghana, Niger and the rest of Hausa speakers across West Africa. It is part of the BBC's foreign language output of 33 languages, of which five are African languages. The service includes a radio station, a bureau office based in Abuja and a frequently-updated website which serves as a news portal and provides information as well as analysis in text, audio and video formats and online access to radio broadcasts. The radio service is broadcast from Broadcasting House in London with preliminary editing done at the BBC's bureau office in Abuja.
Beeyo Macaan is a town in Sheikh District, in the Sahil region of Somaliland.
The Sa'ad Musa or Saad Musa is a northern Somali clan. Its members form a part of the Subeer Awal sub-clan of the Isaaq clan family. The Sa'ad Musa traditionally consists of nomadic pastoralists, coastal people, merchants and farmers. The clan inhabits Somaliland, including Maroodi Jeex, Awdal and Sahil as well as Djibouti, the Somali Region of Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.
Garad Abdullah Garaf Soofe Durraan, Garad, of the Ahmed Garad, the second most senior chief of the Farah Garad branch of the Dhulbahante clan of the Somali people. He was one of the elders of the Dhulbahante clan. In his later years, he often attended meetings as a representative of the Buuhoodle.
The president of Puntland is the head of government and state of Puntland. The Presidency was elected by the House of Representatives of Puntland behind establishing the Puntland State in Somalia on August 1, 1998.
Abwan Jama Elmi Kadiye was a Somali poet and writer. He was killed after being attributed to the indiscriminate mortar shelling in Las Anod, believed to have been carried out by Somaliland.
Ahmed Mohamed Ali 'Kismayo' ; was a Somali journalist who worked for the BBC Somali Service between 1997 and 2012. Later he was the first Director of the Puntland TV and Radio which was established in 2013, and held that position since 2014. He was succeeded by Abdul Fatah Nur Ashkir, Kismayo died in Hyderabad, India, in 2017.
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