Africa: AllAfrica Global Media and BBC World Service Announce Collaboration

5 February 2001
allAfrica.com
press release

Washington DC — AllAfrica Global Media, which operates the leading Africa site on the World Wide Web, has signed a strategic agreement with the British Broadcasting Corporation. Under the agreement, AllAfrica’s web site, allAfrica.com, offers access to an array of Africa-related programming from the BBC.

The webcasts include five-minute news bulletins, updated regularly, and the award-winning Focus on Africa, a daily show featuring political and economic reports and analysis. Other programs cover business, sports, arts and popular culture.

The BBC World Service is widely regarded as the premiere international news organization, with a global audience of over 150 million, including more than 45 million in Africa. Independent research identifies the BBC as the most trusted source of news worldwide. The agreement with AllAfrica offers the BBC a prestigious platform for the diverse productions of the World Service for Africa.

AllAfrica.com is one of the largest news and information sites on the Internet, posting hundreds of reports daily from its own correspondents and from more than 70 African news organizations. The site, which went live in September 2000, logged over six million monthly page views in January through word-of-mouth growth. About three-quarters of the visits are from North America; the other 25% are widely distributed internationally.

"There is a hunger for African news that other sources fail to provide," says AllAfrica Global Media’s president Amadou Mahtar Ba. "AllAfrica fills that gap. And we are pleased to add the respected productions of the BBC to our offerings. No other broadcaster can match the range and the depth of the BBC’s Africa reporting."

Barry Langridge, head of the Africa & Middle East Region for the BBC World Service, also welcomes the partnership. The agreement will heighten the profile of the BBC in the U.S. market, where it has been less well known than elsewhere. "We are delighted to extend our reach through the platform of allAfrica.com," he said. "The agreement brings BBC offerings to a new forum, known for the breadth of its Africa coverage."

In addition to adding more than 500 new stories a day, AllAfrica.com has a searchable archive of over 220,000 reports. Using its proprietary editorial tools and rapid-download software, the site sorts and displays stories by countries, regions and topics, including business, art, sports, health, science and religion.

Eight BBC programs are available on the site initially: "African News Bulletin"-- five-minute newscasts, updated regularly; "Focus on Africa" -- a daily magazine of political and economic reports; "Network Africa" -- interviews, sports and music every weekday; "African Business Report" -- a daily roundup of business news; "Fast Track" -- a weekday examination of African sports; "Talkabout Africa" -- weekly debates and chat on topical issues; "Postmark Africa" -- an encyclopedia of the air, answering audience questions weekly; "Artbeat" -- a weekly look at the music, art and the culture that enlivens Africa.

In addition to operating AllAfrica.com, AllAfrica Global Media is the largest single source for current African news, serving hundreds of clients, including Comtex, Bloomberg, Reuters, iSyndicate, and for wireless applications OmniSky and AvantGo.

AllAfrica has strategic relationships with two non-profit agencies: Africa News Service, which administers the Center for Africa and the Media at Duke University and the Charlayne Hunter-Gault Fellowship for African Journalists; and the AfricaNet Trust, an African broadcast production company whose programming will be webcast by AllAfrica.com.

Visit the allAfrica/BBC program page at http://allafrica.com/partners/bbc/

For further information contact:

Tamela Hultman
Chief Strategy Officer
AllAfrica.com
202-546-0777
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