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"BBC director general Mark Thompson has today claimed that the corporation&amp;#039;s journalistic output is as important to the UK&amp;#039;s global image as the Royal Family.  In a speech to the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House in London, Thompson cited recent research as indicating how important BBC News is to Britain&amp;#039;s overseas standing.  Commissioned by the BBC and conducted by Human Capital, the study revealed that four out of five opinion-makers in Kenya, Egypt, Pakistan and Turkey gained a positive view about the UK from the corporation. &amp;quot;They were shown a list of different British organisations and initiatives and asked whether they made them think more or less positively about the country: the British Armed Forces, the British Council, the UK government, UK government foreign aid, and so on, and the BBC,&amp;quot; said Thompson.  &amp;quot;No fewer than 80% of people asked said that the BBC made them think more positively about the UK, by far the highest of all the British institutions mentioned.&amp;quot; According to the research, 79% of respondents felt that the BBC helps people from different cultures and countries to understand each other, while nearly two-thirds (63%) believed that the corporation works towards creating a more stable world. Thompson said that the BBC enjoys a &amp;quot;unique&amp;quot; level of trust from worldwide audiences, despite the presence of numerous other international news broadcasters.  &amp;quot;Around the world, people want access to the cool-headed, fair-minded spirit of Britain - and the BBC - at their best&amp;quot;, he said.  &amp;quot;The independence and quality of our international news offer is paramount and sacrosanct. Its integrity and reliability is the platform on which every other reputation is built.&amp;quot; The director general claimed that the BBC&amp;#039;s news output across TV, radio and online platforms provides a &amp;quot;lifeline, a beacon of truth and reason, for millions of people&amp;quot;.  He further said that it &amp;quot;shouldn&amp;#039;t come as a surprise&amp;quot; that Apple selected the BBC News mobile application among a handful of such apps to support the iPad&amp;#039;s US launch. However, the BBC News app and its sister BBC Sport app have been temporarily blocked from launching in the UK while the BBC Trust investigates complaints from the industry. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/media/news/a219423/thompson-bbc-vital-to-uk-global-image/>