BBC World Service to broadcast morning news conference

The BBC World Service is to open up its morning editorial meeting to public scrutiny for the first time, in a one-off experiment to coincide with the broadcaster's 80th anniversary.

The meeting, at 9am on 29 February, will be broadcast live and listeners will be given the opportunity to shape the news agenda by making suggestions on Facebook, Skype or Twitter using the hashtag #bbcws80.

The initiative is one of a series of special events planned for the day, to mark 80 years of the BBC World Service being on the air.

The event also marks the end of an era for the broadcaster, which is vacating its London headquarters in Bush House to move to the newly refurbished Broadcasting House, where it will share facilities with other parts of the BBC's newsgathering operation.

Many of the day's programmes will be broadcast from the open courtyard at Bush House, in front of an audience.

BBC director of global news Peter Horrocks said in a release: "The 80th birthday and departure from Bush House means these are historic and changing times for the BBC World Service. We want our audiences to be at the heart of both the commemoration of the past and conversation about the future."

The Guardian was one of the first UK news outlets to move towards a more open newsgathering system late last year, when it began an open newslist trial and last month launched a live blog allowing readers to discuss the day's topics.

The idea was inspired by Swedish regional daily newspaper Norran, which opened up its newsroom to readers using CoverItLive.

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