REGIONAL PRESS WARNS BBC: STAY OFF OUR PATCH

The crucial long-term role of the regional press in serving local communities is at risk from the BBC's planned expansion into local and regional media. Far from remedying a case of market failure, such an expansion will more likely precipitate one.

In a 63-page submission to the government review of the BBC's Royal Charter, the Newspaper Society sets out the potentially damaging impact of the BBC's 'ultra-local' ambitions on an evolving UK regional press and puts forward recommendations for safeguarding long-term plurality in local news and information service provision.

The report explains that local newspapers are market - rather than product - driven. Regional publishers are investing and innovating to complement their traditional portfolio of text and pictures with audio, video and interactivity. The underlying migration from the printed page alone to print alongside TV, PC or mobile phone screen is a fundamental trend for local newspapers and vital for its long-term future.

This migration is under threat from the BBC's plans for highly localised TV and expansion of its Where I Live websites. The experience of BBC Online suggests a track record of interpreting a widely-drawn remit as a mandate for dominance of a nascent medium.

At a stage when local online or TV services are starting to become commercially viable, a large scale BBC rollout could undermine the business case for commercial innovation and distort investment decisions. The BBC risks distorting the key growth trajectory for the regional newspaper industry over the next five to 10 years.

In the long term, the BBC could end up being the monopoly provider of local digital media, as innovation, choice and diversity fail to develop.

"The BBC is increasingly targeting local and regional audiences. It is using public funding to leverage its scale and to create a network of screen-based local newspapers," said David Newell, director of the Newspaper Society. "For the BBC to replicate the print and online content of regional and local newspapers is an unjustified use of licence fee money. It unfairly distorts local media markets to the public detriment."

Local newspapers are the first port of call for local news and information. They are uniquely placed to meet demand for different tiers of localness - from large regional morning newspapers to 'ultra-local' weekly titles. The BBC does not come close to matching the level of journalistic resource and output of local newspapers in their local communities. Indeed, it is more likely to resort to sourcing stories from regional newspapers and repackaging them for its ultra-local channels and sites.

Therefore, the industry's concern is not that the BBC will offer better local news. Its concern centres on how a commercially-unrestrained BBC could push out competitors in delivering that news - through unfair recourse to scale economies, branding and cross-promotional muscle, and privileged distribution.

Audiences are already accessing local newspaper content through an expanding array of digital media devices. Some services, such as local news, will migrate gradually while others, such as local listings or classifieds, will do so far more rapidly. For example, regional newspaper websites already account for 30% of the UK online recruitment advertising market.

Regional publishers have been revitalising their online initiatives to meet the demands of a resurging online advertising market, to reach out to new audiences and to deepen their already strong ties to local communities.

Various groups have ventured into local TV and are experimenting with different models for delivering video and text to local audiences. It is essential that early pioneers have the freedom to continue to develop in a market environment that supports, rather than undermines, commercial innovation.

The Newspaper Society sets out 10 proposals for the Department for Culture, Media & Sport to consider for its BBC Charter Review white paper:

Notes to editors:

The government's consultative green paper on the future of the BBC was published in March. Its white paper, with firm proposals, is expected to follow in the autumn.

For further details please contact Lynne Anderson or Martha Leary-Tanner on 020 7636 7014 or e-mail lynne_Anderson@newspapersoc.org.uk or martha_lt@newspapersoc.org.uk

The Newspaper Society, the voice of Britain's regional and local press, represents around 1,300 daily and weekly, paid-for and free, newspaper titles in the UK.

The Newspaper Society is a member of UK Publishing Media: a £18 billion alliance of newspapers, magazines and books, which collectively represent one of the largest investors in the rapidly-expanding information society.