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Newspaper society slams BBC's online plans for local video

The Newspaper Society has rejected the BBC's plans to increase its local video output online, despite the inclusion of proposals aimed at collaboration with the regional press.

Plans for the BBC's online local video service, which entered into a public consultation period today, included a series of olive branches aimed at the regional press seemingly aimed at placating those in the regional who had previously criticised the service as something that may cripple their fledgling TV and video services.

Under the proposals the BBC would create an annual fund of £800,000 for sourcing local news video from external providers and would make their own content available for embedding on other sites.

The introduction of linking from the BBC local sites to non-BBC news sites and video content would not be enough, David Newell, director of the Newspaper Society said.

The plans, he said, risked duplicating local news services provided by the newspaper industry and were no different from the BBC's ultra-local TV plans, which were previously withdrawn because of concerns over duplication.

"The BBC's 60 local websites already compete head-to-head with regional newspaper websites and its expansion plans, combined with its cross-promotional power, threaten to steal away audiences and undermine the ability of publishers to pursue their own digital development strategies, which are so important to the future of local media in the UK," he said.

"The regional press has evolved into a successful multimedia industry in recent years, employing many thousands of journalists and news gatherers dedicated to providing local news and information to readers and viewers across a multitude of platforms – paid, free, print, online and broadcast. The local market is well-served and there is simply no gap which the BBC needs to fill."

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