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This week on Over to You, as Sudan prepares for a decisive referendum that could split the country, one listener thinks the 麻豆社 being over optimistic in its reporting of the forthcoming referendum.

It鈥檚 just a month before the people of Southern Sudan vote on whether they want to separate from the north to form Africa鈥檚 newest state.

The referendum itself will take place over a week from 9th January and many thousands of people have already been returning to the south for the vote, as the 麻豆社鈥檚 Will Ross has been reporting. The story has understandably been getting a lot of news coverage on the World Service on both the English Language service as well as Swahili and Arabic Services too.

But one Over To You listener, Tamim Foda, contacted us to say that from his perspective - he is based in Cairo in Egypt - some of the 麻豆社 coverage seems overly optimistic about the outcome of the vote.

So we put Tamim together with the World Service Africa region editor, Solomon Mugera and Gill Lusk of Africa Confidential, a respected newsletter that reports on politics across the continent.

Their discussions highlighted the challenges of reporting a complex subject. Please let us know what you think about media coverage of the Sudanese referendum over the coming weeks.

Elsewhere, Mike Costello鈥檚 two part documentary from the Phillipines听about Manny Pacquiao - 听the eight times world boxing champion who earlier this year became a congressman in the Philippinnes -attracted praise from Emmanuel Benash Junior who emailed from Ghana about 鈥渢he underlying themes of politics versus boxing- as well as the potetial existential angst faced by Pacquiao.鈥�

However, listener and rugby fan, Gerard Hutching emailed from Hong Kong to complain about coverage of his favourite sport. He points out that while there has been a series of rugby tests in the northern hemisphere, 鈥漼ou would hardly know it if you listen to the 麻豆社 World Service".

He contrasts this with coverage of football where there are previews and interviews with coaches and players.

We had plenty of emails from Berlin where the World Service has moved to a new FM frequency - from 90.2 to 94.8 - giving the children鈥檚 radio station Radio Teddy the World Service slot to broadcast its delightful music and children fairy stories. But the new frequency has meant some listeners cannot receive the World Service as well as in the past.

The 麻豆社 told us that the 麻豆社 World Service changed its frequency as the most cost-effective distribution method for covering Central Berlin but the footprint of the new signal means some listeners may experience reduced coverage in suburban areas.

Additionally, during the switchover process, some initial technical issues on the new frequency were experienced, which unfortunately meant it was off air for 12 hours. These issues have now been put right. But they apologise to everyone who may now have difficulty tuning in.

Finally, with the snow falling here in the UK and the streets full of festive decorations it鈥檚 hard to escape that Christmas feeling. Listener Philip Oyeniyi from Lagos, Nigeria, contacted Over to You to say that for him Christmas doesn鈥檛 officially start until he鈥檚 heard the famous service of Nine Lessons and Carols sung live by the choir of Kings College Cambridge.

Philip was worried that the World Service wouldn鈥檛 be carrying the service live - well Philip I can reassure that it will be on as usual on Christmas Eve. And if you are ready now to get into the Christmas spirit, you can hear a taste last year鈥檚 service, courtesy of this week鈥檚 Over To You podcast.

Rajan Datar is the presenter of Over To You

Over To You is your chance to have your say about the 麻豆社 World Service and its programmes. It airs at 00:40, 03:40 and 12:40 every Sunday (GMT).

• Listen to previous episodes of Over To You
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• Send the team your feedback by email (overtoyou@bbc.co.uk), telephone (44 144 960 9000), SMS (447786 202006) or by leaving comments on this blog

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