BBC Monitoring Portal - worldwide news from impartial source
Jinfo Blog

By Norma Beavers

Abstract

Launched in May, the BBC Monitoring Portal offers a huge amount of economic, security-related and political information delivered in real-time or the day after first publication. Our product review looks at what the new portal offers those who want round-the-clock impartial updates on global news in 100 languages delivered to their phones, tablets and computers.

Item

Freshly reviewed by Jinfo, the BBC Monitoring Portal, from the British Broadcasting Corporation, is a searchable database containing News, Media Environment Guides, Thematic and Country Insights, Election Guides and Government Lists.

The information is drawn from news and social media in 150 countries and is available in 100 different languages, from Afrikaans to Yoruba, all of it accurately and impartially edited or translated by BBC staff. Each item is written to enable users to understand the issues, media environments and locations and can be delivered via email or on the searchable customer portal.

Jinfo's Sophie Alexander has just completed an in-depth product review (Subscriber content) and notes: "The range of languages covered by the BBC Monitoring Portal is something that most organisations cannot compete with. It is a huge benefit for those who either don't speak those languages or employ those with foreign language skills as it allows them to gauge a specific region's local thoughts and perceptions."

Competition 

The BBC Monitoring Portal is impressive and offers a host of advantages.

It's difficult to match its comprehensive global coverage but organisations with more specific needs may consider the likes of Reuters, the Economist Intelligence Unit's country profiles, Northern Light, ProQuest Dialog, and specialist products including Jane's Defence Weekly and Control Risks. If there is a possible weakness it is that the BBC Monitoring Portal does not yet offer RSS feeds - but this feature may be added in the future if there is a demand for it.

Find out more

Read the full product review of the BBC Monitoring Portal to find out more about the portal's range of coverage, real-time news, Media Guides, technology underpinning it. Discover the many other features that make it attractive to professional researchers as well as journalists and others who seek timely and impartial economic, geopolitical and other news from across the world.

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