News Release
7 August 2008
NORTHCLIFFE ATTACKS BBC LOCAL PLANS AS UNJUSTIFIED AND
INSENSITIVE
In a 79-page submission
to the BBC Trust and Ofcom this week, Northcliffe Media has
criticised the BBC’s plans to spend millions of pounds extending
its local website content and questions
“why public funds are
being used to make further aggressive inroads into the provision of
local content at the expense of commercial operators.”
Managing director Michael Pelosi, who is also
NS president, said: “[The
BBC] has used its massive public funding and resources, brand
potency, unrivalled distribution network and cross-promotional
opportunities to become the most powerful media brand in the world
and the leading UK player in television, radio and on the internet.
Now it is seeking to extend that market leadership into the
provision of local news and information.”
He said the BBC plans showed insensitivity to – or even
disregard for – the challenges faced by commercial media in the
regions. “The proposed massive additional publicly-funded
intervention into local media markets would exaggerate further the
iniquitous disparity between a commercial sector facing perhaps the
most challenging conditions it has ever encountered and the BBC
which would be able to extend its reach and impact locally, free
from any commercial constraints.”
Northcliffe’s submission urges rejection of the BBC’s plans on
the grounds that there is no justification or public value case for
them. The proposed new services are not distinctive as video
reporting is now commonplace across the local media sector.
Northcliffe points out that the services would build upon and be
supported by the BBC’s current regional news provision, which costs
£100m a year, and by bbc.co.uk, the annual budget for which is
expected to almost double to £150m within two years.
Key points from the submission include:
- Lack of distinctiveness – the BBC’s proposals
to provide local news in video format would duplicate digital
services already provided by local media companies across the
UK.
- No unfulfilled demand for local news provision
– local newspapers and their websites are widely used across all
ages and demographics, reflect their local communities, and are the
most trusted form of media.
- Stifling digital development & investment
– BBC Local Video will not produce greater plurality or diversity
in local news; rather it would stifle the development of new
content and other platforms from commercial and community
providers.
- No evidence of support or partnership – BBC’s
proposals have no support from commercial media groups and there is
no evidence of genuine partnership with other providers.
- Direct threat to emerging revenue streams –
BBC threatens emerging new revenue streams for local media groups
which are directly linked to the local digital audiences they have
been building successfully for many years.
Northcliffe is among media owners from across the UK local
media industry to have roundly condemned the BBC Local plans. The
NS, around a dozen member publishing groups, along with media
research companies such as Enders Analysis, are putting in
individual submissions to the BBC Trust and Ofcom this week,
following a series of meetings and presentations.
These submissions point out that there is no market failure to
justify state-funded intervention in this area, that the BBC would
be duplicating local news online services provided by commercial
local media, and that the impact of such intervention would be
hugely damaging to the local media sector at a critical time in its
digital development.
The BBC has been warned by the Trust that it must ensure,
"it does not stifle enterprise from others who seek to offer
excellent online services to the public."
The BBC’s 60 local websites already compete head-to-head with
flagship local media websites such as
expressandstar.com (Black
Country),
thisisbristol.co.uk (Bristol),
kentonline.co.uk (Kent),
yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk
(Leeds),
belfasttelegraph.co.uk
(Belfast & East) and
journallive.co.uk (Tyne). Each
of the 60 BBC Local regions is currently served by a number of
large daily newspaper sites and county-wide sites which closely
match the footprint of the 60 areas and offer comprehensive local
news and sports coverage with video bulletins. The BBC’s expansion
plans, combined with its cross-promotional power, threaten to steal
away audiences from these sites and undermine the ability of
publishers to pursue their own digital development strategies,
which are so important to the future of local media in the
UK.
The regional press has evolved into a successful multimedia
industry in recent years, employing many thousands of journalists
and news gatherers dedicated to providing local news and
information to readers and viewers across a multitude of platforms
– paid, free, print, online and broadcast. These journalists are
the foundation of the news gathering process in all nations and
regions of the UK, upon which the BBC and other media organisations
rely.
As well as 1300 core regional and local newspapers, the
industry has over 1100 websites – including around 100 large daily
and county-widesites - many with video streaming and online
audiovisual services, plus a variety of online and mobile telephone
services, 750 magazines, 36 local radio stations and even two
traditional television channels. The local market is well-served
and there is simply no gap which the BBC needs to fill.
The NS, the voice of Britain’s local
media, represents 1300 newspapers, 1100 websites, 750 magazines, 36
radio stations and two TV stations.