My previous post about our imminent new website - and the subsequent comment about another local news site due to relaunch soon - brings me onto the subject of the BBC.
I've always welcomed the fact Croydon is a competitive news patch - it keeps people on their toes and makes the job more interesting.
But at the same time I've always had an issue with the BBC.
I share the view of most people in the industry about the corporation's plans to roll out 60 ultra-local news sites, offering all the services we and our rivals try to provide without having to worry about how they are going to make any money.
You can see the background to the story on the Press Gazette website here.
The main players in the UK media industry - Trinty, Northcliffe, Newsquest et al - believe the BBC will completely skew the playing field if its Board of Governors approves such a huge expenditure.
From my own time at the BBC I know, despite its claims to the contrary, it's absolutely AWASH with cash. Just look at how many staff they've got at Euro 2008.
And don't get me started on the chauffeur-driven limos they provide for staff working unsocial hours. Even if I didn't say no at the time.
What I do know is that if every household in Croydon was forced to give me £139.50 each year regardless of whether or not they wanted the Advertiser I'd be able to create a bloody fantastic website.
I realise this is the kind of argument unlikely to win the hearts and minds of readers, but I really don't think the BBC's remit should be to attempt to crush traditional local media.
Still on the subject of the BBC, I've got a story I've been itching to post for ages now.
It involves somebody pressing the wrong button on the day of the Queen Mother's death and briefly broadcasting the wrong pre-prepared obituary to the nation. And when it comes to public figures, the one accidentally killed off was as big as they come.
I'll open a right can of worms if I say any more, but maybe I'll Twitter it instead...
6 comments:
I would tend to agree, but actually your web site is not as good as it could be - perhaps why you are upgrading it. The paper is a lot better than it used to be.
The BBC is only filling a gap in the market caused by the media groups being lazy and milking titles for cash.
As I think the Advertiser story shows, the more local and the more investment put in to your titles the more relevant they are and the less demand that the BBC will have for filling the void.
You have admitted that you have a competitive patch - something that other place don't.
However that said you still don't cover a huge swathe of real news. I would hazard to guess that Croydon has plenty of room for you, the Guardian and the Beeb to operate in.
Twitter away...
Fair points. My Twitter flirtation is dying out already though - I was getting quite freaked out by the emails telling me people were following me.
Jo Wadsworth is still attemping to attract followers in the manner of a crazed cult leader.
Not much of a cult at the moment - only 15 followers. But I can promise you there will be no attempts to organise a mass suicide or force multiple wives on you if you sign up, honest! Come and join the Twittersphere . . .
And the Croydon Advertiser is owned by that ranting right winger Lord Rothermere who has very deep pockets. He can afford to spend millions of pounds on his new home in Wiltshire....
Carter: 162 x £139.50 is not very much... (everyone else in Croydon will get off paying on benefits)...
Seriously: the point about Northcliffe and its long-term opposition to the BBC made earlier is a good one.
Northcliffe has been a total dinosaur in the manner it has managed its web offerings, while asset-stripping its local papers and cutting their budgets to the point where it is a struggle to deliver a product.
Here's a site without the BBC or Northcliffe squillions that has managed to put together an excellent micro-local news site:
http://www.london-se1.co.uk/
Money is not the issue: imagination and wit is.
PS. Seen this?
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/digitalcontent/2008/06/future_of_journalism_chasing_r.html
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