UK: Bitterness towards the BBC?
The idea for his column originated with speculation that the Beeb plans to launch a weekly news magazine to compliment two of its broadcast programs. Sabbagh seems to think that the combination of the Beeb's brand-name means that it could be successful against the already popular weekly mags, The Economist, The Spectator and the New Statesman even if it produced a mediocre publication.
So why not publish a newspaper too?
Twice in the short column, Sabbagh refers to the BBC's licensing fee with contempt, ("why should readers pay for a newspaper when the BBC could provide it free via the licence fee?" and "Once again the latest wheeze demonstrates that the Corporation, which would be nothing without the licence fee at its core, seems to have no sense of limit"). Could this be because his own paper has proved rather unprofitable of late, losing £46.9 million last year? Does he think that all newspapers should free themselves from stockholder pressure as what was recently proposed in the US.
As so far as platforms go, Sabbagh ignores one important aspect of the strengthening of the Beeb's name worldwide: the Internet. Where as Murdoch may be sending the Times overseas to have 10,000 copies printed in the States, the Times website is lagging well behind that of the BBC, the subject of much praise, in traffic and content.
In this respect, the BBC certainly doesn't have to invest in printing a newspaper. It's superb global coverage is accommodated perfectly by the global Web.
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: UK: Bitterness towards the BBC?.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.editorsweblog.org/mt/mt-tb.cgi/4206
In the case of Bluffton Today, it means that editors have some key roles to play:
a) facilitating community involvement
b) finding real stories amidst the community chatter
c) selected and promoting important issues/posts raised by the community
d) keeping reporters and staffers involved with the community
Let me just soapbox and say, from my perspective, one of the interesting successes of the BT project has been the level of transparency and accessibility of the editorial staff. I think that will help the publication gain trust in the community.
I am so sick of reading journalists hype GETLOCALNEWS and it's "flagship" site Benicianews.com as citizen journalism. Don't any of you look at the site and evaluate it? It's ugly, the design is horrible, it has more ads than the las vegas strip, it has no editorial controls, any one with a half-baked notion that aliens are planning an invasion can capture the lead spo, the stories are rubbish, the site hosts a message board that encourages people to anonymously slander of every citizen in town. Teenagers are in therapy in the town because of the rumors that are spread about them on BEnicianews.com. It's a disservice to the community and most people here will be glad if it fails. Frankly, I'm surprised they've avoided lawsuits for slander. Just because people exercize free speech on the site doesn't mean it's making a contribution to news. Just because it's new and encourages participation doesn't mean it's good. If you lived in benicia, you'd know what I mean.