Saturday, March 05, 2011

Gates Foundation gives $20M to BBC charity arm

By Sandi Doughton

A new grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation illustrates the way lines have blurred between traditional media and new ways to communicate about health and development.

At $20 million, the five-year grant to the BBC World Service Trust is the foundation's largest so far with a media connection. But foundation officials say it is not like previous grants to news organizations, including ABC and PBS.

"This grant does not support the news gathering capacity of the BBC," foundation spokesman Chris Williams wrote in an e-mail. "This grant is essentially public education."

The BBC World Service Trust is the British Broadcasting Corp.'s international charity. Its website says: "We use media and communications to reduce poverty and promote human rights."

Among the trust's projects are humorous public-service announcements in India urging condom use and a hospital drama in Cambodia that explores health issues.

Read more Seattle Times, 3 Mar 2011 by Sandi Doughton

(http://www.kimandrewelliott.com/)

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