BBC World Service enhances programme offer for Syria

Broadcast on medium wave and FM, the BBC said the enhanced audio service would provide “the people of Syria and surrounding countries with a trusted source of independent news when audiences need it the most, particularly as local media and digital services are disrupted.”

The service will air BBC News Arabic bulletins throughout the day including the BBC News Arabic’s World at One and BBC News Arabic’s Newsnight. It will also feature packages from the Gaza Lifeline service and contributions from correspondents and reporters based across the region.

There will also be an English offer on the network, curated from World Service English, for those Syrians who speak the language.

The Syrian radio network will go out on medium wave, 720kHz and 639kHz, and on 93.0 FM.

Jonathan Munro, Global Director of BBC News, said: “As we have all been watching, listening to and reading about the dramatic changes that have swept through Syria, the Syrian population have been left without essential access to reliable and independent news about the events taking place. The BBC World Service’s enhanced services will bring them the latest breaking news and analysis from Syria, the Middle East and the rest of the world.”

The BBC World Service recently launched an emergency radio service for Gaza – which remains on air – and in May 2023 during the conflict in Sudan, BBC News Arabic began an emergency radio service. In February 2022, the BBC News Ukraine service extended TV bulletins following the invasion of the country.