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Is BBC News online "next in line" for Conservative cuts?
Nicholas Jones
DATELINE: 4/9/09
Perhaps the most perceptive prediction in the fall-out from James Murdoch's demand that the BBC should be forced to limit its "land-grab" of online journalism was the suggestion that News Corporation will get a "much more sympathetic" hearing from a government led by David Cameron.
David Elstein, a former executive with both Sky and Channel 5, believes that a Conservative victory in next year's general election will provide News Corporation with a fresh opportunity to put pressure on the BBC to scale back the £180 million a year which it is spending on BBC News online.
Elstein, who has long argued that the BBC should be funded by a voluntary subscription rather than a compulsory licence fee, reminded viewers on Newsnight (28.8.2009) that the BBC Trust was forced to back down after Cameron wrote a "very fierce" letter saying the BBC should stop the development of ultra local television services because of the threat they would pose to the development of newspaper websites.
"I think James Murdoch has chosen his moment…I think David Cameron will listen much more sympathetically to News Corporation…and BBC online is next in line…Currently it is being funded through the licence fee by £7 a year from every household in the country…No-one can compete with that."
Elstein's view is that there should be a charge to view BBC News on line – a step that would be welcomed by News Corporation as it moves to charge for access to the content of its newspaper websites.
In his MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh television festival (28.8.2009), Murdoch said the BBC's "land-grab" through its "expansion of state-sponsored journalism" had to be reversed.
"Dumping free, state-sponsored news on the market makes it incredibly difficult for journalism to flourish on the internet…If we are to have that state sponsorship at all, then it is fundamental to the health of the creative industries, independent production, and professional journalism that it exists on a far, far smaller scale".
In supporting Murdoch's claim that the BBC's online operations were having a "chilling" effect on the independent sector, and in predicting that a future government led by Cameron would be more sympathetic, Elstein was simply highlighting the reality of the current political situation: in recent months the Conservatives' broadcasting policy has become increasingly aligned with the commercial agenda of News Corporation.
Either Cameron himself or the Conservatives' spokesmen on broadcasting have already signalled their support for the bullet points in Murdoch's shopping lists for curbing the BBC.
Not only did the shadow culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, oppose the BBC's £68 million plan to extend its local news services, but he has also suggested that the Radio One franchise might be sold to the private sector and warned repeatedly about the need to freeze BBC licence fee increases.
Another highly-significant move was David Cameron's proposal that under a Conservative government Ofcom would lose its policy making powers.
Other moves which have appealed to News Corporation have included the consultation document published in March 2008 which recommended that the rules on political impartiality should be relaxed for those broadcasting organisations which are not in receipt of public funds or subsidies – another long term objective of Rupert Murdoch & Son.
Over the last decade or more the governments of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have done all they can behind the scenes to appease News Corporation; allowing newspaper websites to be self-regulated by the Press Complaints Commission is a recent example.
But the pitch which the Conservatives have developed towards winning back the support of the Murdoch press looks like being far more attractive as the election campaign hots up and future broadcasting policy increasingly moves higher up the political agenda.
Last modified: Friday, September 4, 2009
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World Press Freedom Day
More reporters are currently imprisoned in Turkey than in any other country in the world. Only a matter of weeks ago lawyers failed to persuade a Turkish court to release a 76-year-old journalist from a Turkish internet news station.
World Press Freedom Day on Friday May 3, 2013 is being marked in Britain by a rally to highlight the dangers facing journalists in Turkey and in this podcast, Nicholas Jones speaks to Barry White, Organiser at the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, and Sam Bamford, the TUC's policy officer for Eastern Europe and Africa about the importance of a campaign to highlight international press freedom.
The World Press Freedom Day rally is being staged by the National Union of Journalists at the NUJ head office, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 on Thursday May 2, 6pm-8pm.
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The UK launch of a 'European Citizens' Initiative' calling for EU rules against concentration of media power will take place on Thursday March 21 from 11:00am – 12:30pm in Committee Room 4A at the House of Lords, London. Guest speakers will include actor and activist Hugh Grant (pictured), media consultant Claire Enders, Professor Steven Barnett, Barry McCall (President of the NUJ) and Marc Gruber (Director of the European Federation of Journalists).
A European Citizens' Initiative is an official petition, like a Downing Street petition. If it succeeds in gathering a million signatures across the EU, the Commission is obliged to respond.
This petition calls for the EU to act to protect media pluralism and press freedom.
CPBF Annual General Meeting
DATELINE: 1/3/13
Make a note in your diary
Saturday 13 July 2013 from 10.00am
NUJ HQ, 308/312 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1.
Leveson, media ownership, CPBF future work.
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MEDIA MANIFESTO
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The media’s job is to inform and entertain us but we rely on them too to tell us what our rulers and representatives are up to. In the run-up to the Iraq war the government used spin and disinformation in the media to create panic and mislead people. The truth is coming out now, but we need stronger, more independent media to be able to scrutinise governments and make informed choices.
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Previous stories
'future Of The BBC...'
Keeping Broadcasting Public
Keep Broadcasting Public - Victoria Brittain
Keep broadcasting public - Brendan Barber
Keep broadcasting public - Dr. Georgina Born
A view from the Guardian
Keep Broadcasting Public - observer's report
Keep broadcasting public - Tom O'Malley
Keep broadcasting public - James Purnell MP
BBC Conference Warns Against Complacency
Green Paper, white in parts
Ofcom's remedy is not ours...
Conference presentations can now be read here...
Ofcom's mission to destroy...
First cut or narrow escape?
PSB matters says Ofcom spokesman
Collective action & intervention can save public service
