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Back MPs rally against BBC local video proposals 13/11/2008 By: Newspaper Society staff MPs have launched a campaign against the BBC Local Video proposals, expressing concern that the plans may jeopardise the “tremendous work of local newspaper reporters and broadcasters”. The launch of the campaign comes as speakers at the Society of Editors conference in Bristol called for the plans to be scrapped with the Daily Mail editor-in-chief Paul Dacre describing them as “preposterous”. In the House of Commons on Monday, Graham Stuart, Beverley and Holderness MP, told MPs that the BBC’s “creeping monopoly” on news provision presented a threat to the diversity of media which “cannot be allowed to proceed”. And St Albans MP Anne Main tabled an early day motion signed by five other MPs, expressing concern over the effect the proposals to add video content to 65 regional news sites might have on local media publishers. The move came after a debate on ITV regional news in which Fiona Mactaggart, Slough MP, asked Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport Andy Burnham if he was aware of the “real concern” about the plans. She was backed by Mr Stuart who said: “Local newspapers are among the most vibrant and dynamic locally based institutions in this country, ensuring that our democracy is delivered locally, as well as nationally. “As we have seen with the impact on regional news, the BBC’s going in further and driving local newspapers out of business will have a major impact on the variety and diversity of our media. “This creeping monopoly cannot be allowed to proceed, and we cannot leave this issue to the chairman of the BBC Trust, when it is the Secretary of State who should defend the right of the people to have the news provided locally.” Mr Burnham responded: “Local newspapers are a much-valued part of the media industry. My constituents, I am sure, are very similar to his, and they depend on the local press in the Leigh area as a trusted source of news. I also appreciate the urgency of these issues. “Two respected national newspaper editors are writing about them in today’s Media Guardian, presenting a well-argued and persuasive case for ensuring that we appreciate the pressures on the newspaper industry. “All these issues will be considered in the round, and that is why I say to the honourable gentleman that is the job of the BBC Trust. It is able to take a broader view, and it is important that we let it do its job.” Paul Dacre said: “The corporation has all but seen off ITV’s news services, both nationally and locally, has crippled commercial radio, is distorting the free market for internet newspapers and now, with its preposterous proposal for 65 ultra local websites, is going for the jugular of the local newspaper industry. “Lines must be drawn in the sand. Writing in Media Guardian, the title’s editor Alan Rusbridger said that people were “waking up” to the threat to local newspapers and Mr Burnham was “alive to the urgency of the situation”. He added: “There are some signs that the BBC is rethinking how aggressively (or soon, or at all) the BBC enters the market for hyper-regional or ultra-regional websites. “Both the BBC Trust and Ofcom are weighing the public value of more BBC local content against the potential harm its expansion into local video generation might do. “The latest shot in that war came last week, when the law firm Clifford Chance, acting on behalf of the Newspaper Society, fired off a letter to the BBC Trust demanding that it suspend its work on this area. “The BBC’s director general, Mark Thompson, may well think he has enough fights on his hands without alienating newspaper interests further.” Media Guardian also reported comments made at the Society of Editors conference this week by Mail Online editorial director Martin Clarke. He described the BBC as a “boa constrictor” which had no business moving into a market where it will compete with regional newspapers.
Lebedev to open upbeat editors’ conference Alexander Lebedev will deliver the Society of Editors lecture in Glasgow in November. The prestigious annual lecture that has previously been delivered by politicians and some of the biggest names in newspapers and broadcasting opens the Society of Editors conference which will celebrate the huge achievements in meeting the challenges of the multi-media age.  The Society of Editors works to protect the freedom of all sectors of the media to report on behalf of the public. Society members share the values that matter:
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