Speaking to Guardian Unlimited this week, shadow culture secretary John Whittingdale said that he is not convinced that there is a case for a public service website.
"As a free-market Conservative, I will only support a nationalised industry if I'm persuaded that that is the only way to do it and that if it were not nationalised, it would not happen," he said.
However, in a later interview with BBCi, Mr Whittingdale insisted that he had not been saying that BBCi should be closed down - merely that the service should be scrutinised as closely as all other areas of the BBC.
Natalie Kirby, spokesperson for Conservative party, told dotJournalism that the party currently has no official position on the direction of broadcasting policy, and that Mr Whittingdale had just given his personal opinions to the Guardian.
When asked if Mr Whittingdale’s statement reflected a lack of modernity in the party, Ms Kirby disagreed.
"I don't think that it is fair to say that Mr Whittingdale is just reflecting the views of an older generation. He is simply taking a pragmatic look at the role of the BBC in fulfilling its public service remit.
"Clearly the internet is growing more and more important in our lives and BBCi has a role to play. However, he will be looking at whether the service meets the public service criteria if it is to continue to be funded by the licence fee," she said.
Ninety-four per cent of BBC funding is generated by the licence fee. Every UK household with a TV must pay around £116 per year for the licence, which last year produced an income of £2.659 billion for the corporation.
Mr Whittingdale said the BBC’s web services were very good because a lot of money had been thrown at them.
"Some of the BBC's news services are also provided in the private sector," Ms Kirby added, "so it would not be strictly necessary for the BBC to provide a similar service.
"However, if the site was to move in the direction of facilitating access to a back catalogue of programmes, for example, then that could be considered as fulfilling the public service remit."
BBC director general Greg Dyke announced this week that the organisation is to launch a new project called BBC Creative Archive, an extensive online archive of BBC radio and television programmes that would be free for non-commercial use.
Official Conservative policy on the future of the BBC will be decided by the end of the year, based on the findings of their broadcasting focus group.
Tessa Jowell, secretary for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport announced last week that former Trinity Mirror chief executive Philip Graf will lead the government’s own review of BBC online. His report will be submitted to the department by Spring 2004.
Chris Charlton, spokesperson for the BBC, told dotJournalism that BBCi has become an integral part of the BBC’s tri-media service for the UK public.
"BBCi has an important public service role to play on the internet," said Mr Charlton.
"It provides our licence fee payers with information on the world around them, provides them with a voice on the web and reflects their passions and interests at a local, national and international level."
BBC Online is also designed to complement their radio and television services. “It enables users to dig deeper into topics that interest them, at a time and in a way that's convenient to them,” he said.
Mr Charlton would not speculate on whether a Tory government would close BBCi.
"We're not going to make any predictions on this," he said.
"What we do know is that members of all parties use our website and value it as a reliable source of news and information."
Sources:
http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,7496,1029616,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3186071.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3173909.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3177479.stm
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