Speaking during a webchat on Guardian Unlimited, Mr Highfield stated that the BBC charter required the corporation to give all its users a voice – though he also spent much of the debate defending the corporation’s funding system.
When asked how journalists could meet the challenges of internet journalism, Mr Highfield stated that 'citizen journalism' is likely to play an increasingly significant role in news reporting.
"One of the biggest shifts in news reporting is that the reports do not all have to come from our reporters," he said.
"Increasingly, our audience can submit articles, views, comments, photos, and even video footage. The big challenge in this world is how to maintain both impartiality and quality in this world of user generated content."
Digital storytelling, he explained, is 'a very public service' that the BBC is keen to expand.
"This has a future because one of the key social trends that we've noticed is that in a fragmenting society, people want to get more involved in their media consumption and want to contribute - sometimes as a substitute for real-world communities."
Many participants questioned Mr Highfield about the licence fee and the well-publicised budget for BBC Digital, which this year totals more than £100m. He was quick to point out that this budget funds all BBC digital services.
"Our overall funding this year is £106m - which covers not just web spend, but also interactive TV, broadband pilots, Ceefax, distribution and infrastructure, special projects and overheads," he said.
"Our web content spend is £73 million this year, covering all genres from news and weather to children and education."
He also explained that the BBC’s web spend in 2004 will be reduced to £66m as the corporation dedicates more funding to interactive TV.
More questions were raised about the service the BBC provides internationally, pointing out that the majority of BBC services are funded by a licence fee paid by UK TV owners.
"The cost to the licence fee payer for international traffic is negligible," he explained.
"The servers and content for our international traffic is paid for through BBC World Service, which is funded by Grant In Aid through the Foreign Office - not the licence fee."
The BBC, which has a global audience of around 28 million, has come under increasing criticism from commercial rivals in the digital sector who view the corporation as uncompetitive.
Mr Highfield acknowledged that the BBC had made an impact on the market but declared that the corporation’s role is still justified.
"The real issue is that we acknowledge have had a small impact on the market, but believe that the positives we've brought - not least the two million people who've come to the web because of the BBC - justifies it," he said.
"Even our detractors in the commercial sector acknowledge this is acceptable.
"Our objective is to maximise the public good delivered by bbc.co.uk and minimise the commercial impact."
See also:
http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?50@68.ncNCcNn6bdE.2@.685eb920
http://www.bbc.co.uk
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story752.html
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story740.html
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story722.html
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story695.html
Ashley Highfield biography:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/biographies/biogs/executivecommittee/ashleyhighfield.shtml
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