The BBC World Service is a vital beacon of truth in the fight against fake news

The BBC’s headquarters and studios in Portland Place, London, home to the World Service. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Reuters

You are right to persist in drawing attention to the need for long-term support of the BBC World Service (Editorial, 23 May). It has been an important medium for truthful reporting since the 1930s.

I joined in 1967 as PA to its redoubtable editor Bob Gregson. Soon after, it became a 24-hour service, and in the years that followed it became a substantial international service.