BBC Charity to Get Nearly $20-Million From Gates

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded $19.9-million to the BBC World Service Trust, the charity arm of the British broadcaster, The Seattle Times and the Puget Sound Business Journal report.

The five-year grant, awarded in December but not announced until Wednesday, is designed to create a “multichannel communications strategy” to promote healthier practices among families in India’s poor Bihar region, said Chris Williams, a foundation spokesman.

The Gates Foundation’s largest award to a media organization comes amid heightened attention to its support of news organizations, often to produce reports on its focus issues of global health and development. Mr. Williams said the new grant “does not support the news-gathering capacity of the BBC” but rather focuses on “public education.”