´óÏó´«Ã½

The ´óÏó´«Ã½'s reputation is based on its journalism and reputation for accuracy.Ìý But in this week's programme we hear about the strange case of the mining disaster in Sierra Leone which made headline news on the Focus on Africa programme on 19th March but which was .

Focus on Africa's Editor, Joseph Warungu, explains how the Focus team were tipped off about the story by their local reporter based in the town of Bo.The local police chief there confirmed that he'd also had reports of an accident in which as many as 200 people were unaccounted for and he'd sent out a team of 30 to investigate.

The scene of the reported accident was very remote and only reachable via extremely bad roads, made worse by the monsoon season. The local reporter had checked with the Mining and Mineral Resources ministry and heard that the minister was making his way to the scene.

Joseph says that in situations like this, it's hard to get to the facts and that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ has to trust its reporters on the ground. He talks about the different sources of information available in such areas and says that ideally, the reporter should get an eye-witness view.

However in this case, the local reporter was arrested as a result of his broadcast, detained overnight and refused entry to the mining area to check what the facts actually were.

Joseph says his programme has to strike a balance between cautious fact-checking with the authorities (who in some African countries may wish to prevent information from emerging) and the breaking of important news.

Where do you think the line should be drawn? Is it better to make the occasional mistake or wait - perhaps for days or weeks - for the full story to become clear?

Being British

Also in Over to You this week, we hear what one of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Hausa service's producers,Ìý Jameel Yushua, has made of his travels round England this week for the World Today.

Together with presenter Komla Dumor, he's been heading up the M1 Motorway in England, calling in at Luton, Leicester and Leeds, asking different communities what makes them tick and trying to find out what it means to be English.

Schedule changes

We also explore one of the recent changes to the schedules.

Evening Report, a programme about South Asia from South Asia has been cancelled. In its place is an edition of World Briefing which will be co-anchored in London and Delhi.

This South Asia-leaning World Briefing can also be heard in Australia, East Africa, Europe and the Middle East, plus on the Internet.Ìý

What do you make of this programme? Are you interested to "eavesdrop" on the stories viewed with a South Asian twist? Should the ´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service do more of this kind of thing?

Penny Vine is the Producer, Over To You

ÌýOver To You is your chance to have your say about the ´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service andÌýits programmes. It airs at 10:40 and 23:40 every Saturday, and atÌý02:40 on Sunday (GMT).Ìý

• Bookmark with:
• |
• |
• - What's this?