BBC World Service and South Africa’s 702 and Capetalk have teamed up to deliver a local and global view of the verdict of Oscar Pistorius trial. The radio co-production, Oscar Pistorius Special, will follow Judge Masipa’s verdict when it is handed down later this week.
The trial has captured international attention and has been headline news since it started six months ago. BBC World Service has kept its listeners around the world updated with the news of the trial, with journalists offering firsthand accounts from the courtroom in Pretoria. 702/Capetalk has been following the trial extensively on air and created a separate pop-up channel, Oscar-Extra, to broadcast the court proceedings in their entirety, with legal analysis and expert commentary during the court recesses.
The co-production, Oscar Pistorius Special, will see the local expertise from 702/Capetalk paired with international perspectives offered by BBC World Service and its BBC Africa hub to deliver a comprehensive and global discussion of the judge’s verdict.
Oscar Pistorius Special will be co-hosted by the presenter of BBC World Service’s flagship programmes for Africa, Audrey Brown, and 702/Capetalk’s Gushwell Brookes who has been one of the hosts of the Oscar Extra pop-up channel and thus has followed every minute of the trial. Audrey and Gushwell will be joined in the studio by EWN journalist Alex Eliseev who has covered the story from the time the news broke that Pistorius had shot his girlfriend on 14 February 2013. There also will be linkups with BBC contributors in different parts of the world – including Nigeria, Kenya, the US and the UK – with reports on local reaction to the Oscar Pistorius trial.
BBC Focus on Africa radio editor, Rachael Akidi, says: “This co-production will offer a unique perspective on the verdict for both the BBC and 702/Capetalk listeners. We shall be hearing how the story has played out within South Africa. We’ll also be gauging reaction from the rest of the continent to what has been not only a South African story but a huge global story.”
Oscar Pistorius Special will be broadcast from 702/Capetalk studios in Johannesburg to listeners and fans who follow the station via live streaming. BBC Africa will deliver the programme to its audiences across the continent via bbc.com/africa, BBC FM stations and BBC’s rebroadcasting partner stations in Africa.
The verdict is expected to be delivered on Friday 12 September, and listeners can tune in from 19.00 to 20.00 GMT (21.00-22.00 local time) on the day. If the verdict is handed down on Thursday 11 September, the co-production will be aired live that evening, from 19.00 GMT (21.00 local time), with the BBC’s Audrey Brown co-hosting with 702/Capetalk’s Aubrey Masango.
BBC Africa is part of BBC World Service.
