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BBC local video plans threaten regional media's independence, says Newspaper Society

The regional press is 'essential to local plurality' and should be supported against threats from the BBC and government-subsidised media, the organisation representing the industry has said.

Independent news providers such as local newspapers are facing undue pressure from government policies, which could establish local authorities as news channels, and BBC plans to increase local video output online, said David Newell, director of the Newspaper Society.

Proposals by the BBC to invest £68 million over five years in a network of websites covering 60 UK regions and providing on-demand video news would be 'hugely damaging' to commercial local media's future online at a 'critical time in its development', he said.

The plans are not 'a mere incremental addition' to the BBC's existing sites, he said, but will compete directly with regional and local newspapers.

"The BBC should not be allowed to justify its aspirations for damaging expansion into an area already well-served by the independent commercial media, as a response to criticism of its own shortcomings," he said.

Newell's comments form part of the society's submission to the BBC Trust and Ofcom, which are carrying out a public value assessment and market impact assessment of the corporation's plans.

In the submission, Newell said the government and Ofcom should consider the impact that implementing proposed new policies, which could see the establishment of local authorities as government-subsidised news providers, could have on local media.

"The regional press has an unswerving commitment to the provision of local news and information to reflect, inform, engage and empower the communities in which it has been rooted for generations. It has maintained its independence from statutory content controls, state subsidy and public funding, in order to safeguard the independence of its journalism," he said.

The BBC and other media rely on local media's news content as 'much of their local and regional news output is derivative of it and is "lifted" from it free of any charge from our members,' he added.

According to the Newspaper Society, 80 per cent of the regional newspaper industry has responded directly to the Trust and Ofcom about the plans.

The Trust will publish its provisional conclusions on the plans in November. These will be subject to a further consultation period with a final decision expected in February 2009.

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