BBC Monitoring Library

BBC Monitoring Library is a fully-searchable database that offers access to news and open source information collected by BBC Monitoring (BBCM) from "more than 3,000 radio, television, press, internet and news agency sources in over 150 countries."[1] The archives date back to January 1, 2006, with more than 1.6 million entries in the database as of May 2014. Content is added continuously (updated hourly on a 24-hour basis). According to the publisher, an average of 700 news items are added daily. [2]

An information graphic on the BBCM site suggests global monitoring coverage, with the exception of the United States and Canada, Australia and New Zealand. [3] A list of sources is not publicly available from their site, nor does BBCM provide such a list, as they indicate sources are constantly assessed and selected to provide “a balanced representation of what the media is saying around the world.”[4] As such, sources may change frequently. It is not possible to search the database by media source.

Content is added selectively from sources focusing on geopolitical news, including politics, economics, environment, health, human rights, and a variety of other topics. As a monitoring service, BBCM primarily provides translated full-text, summaries and excerpts of articles. However, BBCM may also provide expert analysis of media coverage, trends, and events. The type and extent of coverage may vary, depending on the nature of the news item or the source. Content is translated and presented in English. BBCM indicates that sources are translated by editorial teams rather than by machine translation to better ensure accurate regional understanding and local nuances. [5]

Each entry in the database lists the source, language of original reporting, date of publication, and, if broadcast, the time of day. Articles are tagged where appropriate with topic, country and regional tags.

It should be noted that BBCM also provides content licensing of its information to other aggregators. Content may be found in LexisNexis Academic ("International Reports," 1979 to present), Factiva (1998 to present), and Access World News (1997 forward), among other providers. According to BBCM, feeds provided to aggregators contain the core transcripts and translations supplied by BBCM. However, users have noted discrepancies in results when comparing BBC Monitoring Library and BBCM content in LexisNexis (see "Community Comments" for more information). 

Content unique to the BBC Monitoring Library includes additional reports and analysis, which may include media observations, social media roundups, and occasional profiles of emerging organizations, people in the news, or local events of significance. [6]

History

BBC Monitoring, a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation, was created in 1939 to monitor radio broadcasts during World War II. Its objective was to provide the British government with reports and analysis based on open source intelligence. Over time, BBCM expanded its scope to include Eastern Europe and Russia, Central Asia, South Asia, and parts of the Middle East and Africa. [7] Today it claims global coverage, with content translated into English “from more than 100 languages.” It presently employs approximately 370 people, including those in its home office in Caversham (near Reading), through its international offices in Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and independent contractors that monitor local media in other world areas.

The principal output of BBC Monitoring was originally the daily and weekly Digest of World Broadcasts, later renamed Summary of World Broadcasts (SWB). SWB continued in various iterations until 2001, when it was integrated into the full-text International Reports from BBCM. [8] Today, BBCM content is delivered to customers electronically through e-mail services, websites and direct feeds.

Distinct from most other BBC services, through 2012 the funding of BBC Monitoring came principally from its stakeholders (primarily through Grant-in-Aid from the Cabinet Office). In 2013/14, Cabinet Office funding was discontinued, and BBCM is now supported in part through the TV license fee paid by UK households to the BBC Trust. [9]