1 BBCWS, Connectivity and the Pakistani Diaspora

BBC Urdu Service has long played a crucial role in connecting listeners in Pakistan to producers and consumers in the wider Urdu speaking diaspora. However, shifts in global politics, especially the so called ‘Global war on Terror ’ on one hand, and professional and technological developments in the field of mass communication in Pakistan on the other, have affected the role as well as the perceived credibility of the BBC Urdu Service among Pakistanis at home and in the diaspora. This paper is based on empirical research in Pakistan and among the Pakistani diaspora in Germany. It investigates how the Urdu services are used on an everyday basis and at times of crisis by Pakistanis at home and abroad. It situates the use of the BBC Urdu services in the wider context of news media consumption of our sample group. Through the use of group discussion, in-depth interview techniques and archival data from BBC we offer a unique analytical perspective on the changing role of the BBCWS (BBC Urdu) as an international and diasporic broadcaster and as an agent of public diplomacy