Speaking on 4 May to the Newspaper Society's annual lunch at the Savoy Hotel in London, Mr Byford acknowledged the competitiveness of local journalism, but said that the BBC and the local newspaper industry should explore opportunities to work together.
"We're certainly both part of the social fabric of our local communities," he said.
"With this in mind, I'm genuinely interested in exploring the opportunities for collaboration that exist between us."
The Newspaper Society represents nearly all of the UK's local and regional newspaper publishers. In a submission to Philip Graf's review of BBC Online, the society said that some BBC web activity amounts to unfair competition for local news organisations.
Mr Byford would not speculate on the outcome of Philip Graf's review, due to be released early this summer, but did state that the corporation's priorities in web publishing are to provide distinctive content and to provide a platform for user-generated content.
"In this way, we're creating new outlets for our audience's creativity," he said.
"Our goal is firmly to remain an online broadcaster, complementing rather than conflicting with the services provided elsewhere."
Related articles:
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story867.shtml
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story830.shtml
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story794.shtml
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story770.shtml
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story722.shtml
See also:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/policies/online_review.shtml
http://www.newspapersoc.org.uk
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