BBC urged to 'compete for air-time' to 'restore semblance of impartiality'
EXCLUSIVE: Local news risks being "overshadowed" by the BBC, a Tory MP warned The Express, while an influential media organisation urged the next government to take steps to keep the broadcaster from "distorting" the digital news landscape.
The BBC has been told it should "compete" with commercial news outlets to restore "impartiality" to the British media landscape.
Marco Longhi MP, who represents Dudley North, spoke to The Express following the release of the News Media Association's (NMA) policy manifesto aimed at pushing the next government to ensure a "sustainable future" for local and national publishers across the UK.
The NMA's second demand in a list of five is that the national broadcaster does not "crowd out" commercial local news services.
Reacting to this request for future legislators, Mr Longhi said: "I fully support the News Media Association's call for measures to ensure the BBC does not crowd out local news publishers.
"It's crucial that we maintain a diverse and competitive media landscape, and local news is a vital part of that - and by a long measure, it is the news most people trust.
"By setting appropriate guardrails on the BBC's online services and fostering collaborative efforts, we can help local publishers thrive without being overshadowed."
"Ensuring future funding plans for the BBC that don't negatively impact commercial publishers is a necessary step to protect the future of local news", added the Walsall-born MP.
He went on: "Personally, I would put the BBC on the same footing as all other broadcasters and compete for ‘air time’. This is the only way that we might be able to restore some semblance of impartiality."
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National World's editorial director echoed Mr Longhi's sentiment, stating: "Funded by the enforced licence fee, the BBC's anti-competitive incursion risks hundreds of journalists' jobs as it steals audience and the advertising revenues associated with them."
The NMA is calling on the next government to take three specific steps to ensure the BBC's dominance doesn't spell the end of independent local media.
The three steps are:
- Placing guardrails on the scope of the BBC’s online news services, with proper scrutiny from Ofcom.
- Reshaping the objectives and remit of the BBC’s online news operations to place an emphasis on collaborative working, and bolstering plurality in the local news market.
- Ensuring that any future funding plans for the BBC do not have the effect of diverting revenues from commercial news publishers.
In the manifesto, the media organisation added: " The next Government must ensure that the BBC is prevented from distorting the digital news market and crowding out commercial publishers.
"Instead, the Corporation should work collaboratively and partner with publishers to sustain a plural news market and ultimately help the public navigate an increasingly complex world.
"Whilst the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) new digital markets powers will help local news publishers deal with global tech monopolies on a more level playing field, the BBC’s immense market power and increasingly severe impact on the local news sector remains unchecked.
"The BBC Charter requires the BBC to 'avoid adverse impacts on competition' but in recent years the guard rails which are supposed to protect commercial media from harmful market distortions caused by the BBC have completely failed.
"The next Government must use the Charter renewal period to ensure that the BBC's status as a publicly funded, dominant market actor does not allow the Corporation to further supplant the key role of the commercial news sector."
