Programme Index

Discover 11,128,835 listings and 279,850 playable programmes from the BBC

Over to You

Is Kim Kardashian News?

Duration: 10 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC World Service OnlineLatest broadcast: on BBC World Service Online

Available for over a year

Should the BBC World Service be keeping up with the Kardashians' visit to Armenia? And how does BBC Hausa get at the truth about accounts of sightings of the missing Chibok girls?

Do celebrities bring news stories to life or are they just too trivial to be on the World Service? Earlier this week, Kim Kardashian visited the country her father came from for the first time. Her visit coincided with a period of commemoration on the 100-year anniversary of the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces. The presence of Kim and Kayne West brought that episode in the country's history to global attention. But was the way the World Service covered her visit too trivial? Some listeners think so. Simon Peeks from the World Service answers that criticism.

And a year after the capture of the Chibok schoolgirls in Nigeria, listeners respond to a BBC Hausa story in which journalist Ahmed Salkida, who claims to be close to the leaders of Boko Haram, said the girls were "well and alive". The audience want to know how the BBC can be sure Salkida is telling the truth and why they're broadcasting what they see as claims, not facts. The head of the BBC Hausa service, Mansur Liman, explains to Rajan Datar how they substantiate such claims and why they chose to broadcast the interview.

Image: Kim Kardashian and her sister Khloe visiting an Armenian memorial to the events of 1915. Credit: Getty Show less

About this data

This data is drawn from the data stream that informs BBC's iPlayer and Sounds. The information shows what was scheduled to be broadcast, meaning it was/is subject to change and may not be accurate. More