We have looked at the BBC’s ever growing commercial empire and massive influence in the media world that distorts the market for the genuinely commercial operators who haven’t got a tax payer funded safety net to cushion them in bad times and which allows the BBC to experiment and fail without penalty.
The Guardian is complaining bitterly about the BBC moving in on its territory in Australia…it shouldn’t worry if the BBC’s top Oz reporter is Jon Donnison…he’ll only be reporting on Gaza.
Guardian boss: BBC distorting news market in Australia, Google must face ‘editorial responsibilities’
Guardian Media Group chief executive Andrew Miller has attacked the BBC for following his company by expanding into Australia.
The Guardian launched an Australia-facing website eighteen months ago funded with a loan from businessman Graeme Wood. Mail Online launched in Australia earlier this year.
Earlier this month the BBC’s commercial wing, BBC World, said it was launching a dedicated Australian news service on BBC.com in response to the new launches.
Miller said: “The BBC claims this expansion is because it believes giving Australians what they value is a core part of its mission. I would respectfully disagree.
“The Guardian is one of a relatively small number of commercial British news organisations that is building on its existing base of Australian readers.
“We are investing significant resources in high-quality journalism that connects the views of Australians to global debates on a wide range of important issues from climate change to immigration.
“Contrary to the BBC’s assertions, this is a space that, both editorially and commercially, the Guardian very much shares with the BBC’s commercial activities.
“Australia is already a diverse and highly-competitive market. As such, the BBC’s expansion into Australia goes beyond its public service remit. More than that, it does not benefit UK licence fee payers or meet the requirement of the BBC to provide news in parts of the world where there are limited alternatives.
“It threatens a distortion that is not in the interests of audiences or other UK news providers.”
The BBC says:
“The BBC’s commercial operations overseas are not funded by the licence fee and we are happy to compete on an equal footing with all other news providers.
But that’s not really true as much of the material broadcast, if not all, comes from the BBC, such as Top Gear and CeeBeebies, and BBC World benefits massively from the authority, credibility and reputation of the BBC as a whole….and it ‘looks to grow the BBC brand.’
BBC Worldwide Limited is the main commercial arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). BBC Worldwide exists to support the BBC public service mission and to maximise profits on its behalf.
And ironically, and pobably impossibly, committed by the Charter to:
Comply with the BBC’s Fair Trading Guidelines and avoid distorting the market.
The BBC and the Guardian falling out, how ironic. Having been secret lovers for years this could get messy.
Secret lovers? More like incest.
As Henry K. said of the Iran/Iraq war… “it’s a shame one of them has to win”.
It is somewhat difficult to know what the BBC expects from the Australian market. They will be competing not just with the Guardian but with established commercial media.
OTOH (putting my reservations about BBC content and agenda aside) the Australian newspaper market (including websites) has one of the most concentrated ownership in the world. For example, 11 of the 12 capital city daily papers are owned by either News Corp Australia or Fairfax Media.
Some competition could be refreshing.
Without the BBC the Guardian Marxo/Liberals would still exist but the question to ponder is IF the BBC could exist (at all) without directly copying, eulogising and endorsing everything that has ever been printed in the Guardian. The BBC journos read little or nothing else. The BBC hire Guardian staff whilst BBC staff get ‘laid off’ for being elderly. In short the BBC ‘feeds’ entirely on Guardian sentiment, so I take heart that the Guardian has suddenly realised that the BBC is a pariah of ALL its news content and steals its staff (bigger pay)- so much so that it is – by default – in direct competition for those same Liberal Marxism values they both represent. Only one can win commercially, and the BBC is funded by the EU, QATAR and UK license fee extortion. If you want pro Islam with Marxist agendas, the BBC is the only way to go to do it.
I have always been a devoted BBC news follower but have, at last, realised that the corporation has an agenda other than reporting impartial news. I happened to watch the ITV evening news for the first time in years today and found the reports a refreshing change from the obsessive, liberal reporting broadcast by the BBC of which, I am sure, will not go down well with the Aussies.
There are a few hold outs for impartial journalism in the BBC. I’d give up on Radio 4 news. I used to rate the World Service but it’s now heavily infected. From Our Own Correspondent has it’s moments but probably just because it’s not so heavily edited.
I don’t know so much about TV but Andrew Neil is good. Fair and informed.
May I point out to the BBC minions the we have a dedicated tax-funded state broadcaster of our own – the Australian Broadcasting Corporation – and as far as left wing credentials go it out performs the BBC every step of the way in singing the praises of the opposition, supporting carbon taxes and preaching the doctrine of the ‘Climate Change’ fanatics. It also has a CEO who pays himself more that the Prime Minister gets.
So why on earth would we want another left wing rubbishy media tart in the mix? It will go the way of the Guardian – much heralded and now dying a slow death. As I refuse to watch the rubbish on the ABC I certainly shall not be bothering with the smug self -satisfied tone of the BBC. I doubt it will go down well with the Aussies.