News Release

The depth of concern across the UK local media industry at the BBC’s plans to spend £68 million* of licence fee money duplicating their online news and sport services with a network of 65 local news video sites has been demonstrated by the sheer number of submissions, meetings and presentations which companies have made in the past six weeks, said the NS in its own response to the proposals.

 

In an unprecedented reaction to the threat posed to local media businesses, companies representing over 80 per cent of the industry have responded directly to the BBC Trust and Ofcom as part of the public value test and market impact assessment processes, said David Newell, director of the NS. Many others have joined them in voicing their concerns through the NS.

 

“All companies – from major group to independent family concern – point out that there is no market failure to justify state-funded intervention into the regional and local media, that the BBC would be merely replicating local news and related online services already 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, thwarting the deeper, broader and richer services which they would provide to their communities,” said Newell in the NS submission.

 

 

The industry’s editorial services are essential to local plurality, says the NS, but they could soon prove to be, “the sole independent competition to state subsidised media,” ranging from the publicly-funded BBC to local government media.

 

“The government and Ofcom must consider the cumulative effect of imminent decision-making and future media policy upon the local media industry,“ said Newell. “The combination of assorted government departments’ proposals could bolster public subsidy to some news providers; enable and encourage local government to withdraw advertising from independent news providers; encourage local authorities to establish their own news channels, subsidised by public funds and third party advertising, taking both audience and revenue away from the independent commercial media. Various proposals from DEFRA, DCMS, BERR and the Cabinet Office appear to give little consideration to the detrimental effect of such proposals upon the importance of local plurality.”

 

He said: “The regional press has an unswerving commitment to the provision of local news and information to reflect, inform, engage and empower the communities in which it has been rooted for generations. It has maintained its independence from statutory content controls, state subsidy and public funding, in order to safeguard the independence of its journalism.

 

 

The NS argues that it cannot be in the public interest for the BBC to expand from being a public service broadcaster to being a public sector publisher. It points out that the BBC should not be permitted to do online at a local and regional level what it has agreed that it would be unacceptable for it to do on paper as a newspaper.

 

“The industry is developing its digital operations in the context of aggressive market conditions,” said Newell. “Our member companies’ digital investments and rising share of audience and digital advertising revenues are crucial to their future. The BBC’s publicly-funded intervention in the regional and local media market at this critical time would constitute very damaging interference and market distortion, discouraging innovation and investment.”

 

BBC Trustee Dame Patricia Hodgson has pointed out that the Trust must ensure that additional investment of licence fee payers’ money, “does not stifle enterprise from others who seek to offer excellent online services to the public.”

 

The NS says that neither Ofcom nor the BBC Trust should view the BBC Local Video service, “as a mere incremental addition” to the BBC’s existing services. “It is a major development of the BBC’s activities which will compete direct with our members’ operations in a harmful fashion. This service will ultimately be offered across every BBC platform and will therefore be in direct competition with every facet of any regional media company’s multimedia portfolio, whether mobile, website or broadcast.”

 

For further information please contact Lynne Anderson on 020 7632 7421 or email lynne_anderson@newspapersoc.org.uk or Santha Rasaiah on 020 7632 7461 or email santha_rasaiah@newspapersoc.org.uk.