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The Fifth Floor

Factual: Life Stories

Global stories from the BBC’s 40 Language Services, with Faranak Amidi

Faranak Amidi presents global stories from the Fifth Floor, home to the BBC’s 40 Language Services.

Faranak Amidi presents global stories from the Fifth Floor, home to the BBC’s 40 Language Services

The Fifth Floor: 13/10/2012

13/10/2012

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, 13/10/2012

Malala on the BBC and the duty of care dilemma: how far can journalists protect a source?

Malala and BBC Urdu's duty of care dilemma: how far do you - or can you - protect your source?; on the drugs beat from Colombia to Mexico; and prisoners to power in Kyrgyzstan

A fresh look at the week's global news from across the World Service's 27 language sections, with presenter David Amanor.

MALALA AND THE DUTY OF CARE
As a journalist, how far do you put a source or contributor at risk to get a story? Especially if this person is living in a dangerous place and is only a child. In 2009, an 11 year-old Malala Yousafzai came to public attention when she started writing an anonymous blog for BBC Urdu about life under the Taliban in Pakistan's Swat Valley. Using the pen name Gul Makai , she was encouraged by her father who ran the local school and remained defiant of the Taliban's restrictions on education of girls. Later when the Taliban were ousted, her real identity was revealed and Malala was publicly celebrated in Pakistan. She became an activist and won an international award for bravery. This week she was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen. Does the BBC bear any responsibility for what happened to Malala? Aamer Ahmed Khan, head of the Urdu Service talks about the BBC's duty of care and is joined by Tripoli-based correspondent Rana Jawad who had to report anonymously throughout the 2011 Libyan uprising.

ONLINE GREATEST HITS
Marco Silva gives the lowdown on the big-hitting stories across the World Service language sites this week - including Peruvian cat gastronomy and full armoured Samurai swimmers.

DEALING WITH DRUGS WITH BBC MUNDO
It sounds like the plot of bad black comedy: in a massive shoot out police kill what appears to be the leader of Mexico's biggest drug cartel, but just as the authorities are attempting to confirm the identity of the body, the morgue (arguably one of the world's busiest) is then raided and the body kidnapped. BBC Mundo's man in Mexico is Juan Carlos Perez but previously he reported from Colombia when it was at the height of the drugs war. What's it like being on the Latin American drugs beat?

PRISONERS TO POWER
For some aspiring politicians, spending time in prison may damage their chances of winning office. But in Kyrgyzstan this week, it's being speculated that three members of parliament may have deliberately landed themselves in prison to further their political influence - by urging their supporters to help them overthrow the government. So why would anybody deliberately land themselves in jail - and how can being incarcerated improve your popularity? Venera Koichieva of the Kyrgyz section explains.

(Image: A protest rally for Pakistani gunshot victim Malala Yousafzai. Credit: Getty)

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