Responding to Ofcom’s announcement yesterday that the BBC’s plans for the expansion of their online local news services were not “material”, News Media Association chief executive, Owen Meredith, said: “We are extremely disappointed that Ofcom have reached this conclusion and chosen not to halt these damaging plans from the BBC to cut funding to respected local radio production and instead invest further in online local news, which is already well served by commercial local news providers.
“We believe this expansion from the BBC will directly threaten the sustainability of local news titles and risks leading to the loss of jobs for local journalists.
“We strongly urge the BBC to think again, and instead to build meaningful partnerships with commercial publishers to ensure a healthy and plural local news ecosystem – working with us, and not against.”
In November, Newsquest chief executive Henry Faure Walker wrote an opinion piece on the BBC plans for local news: Ofcom Must Awake From Its Slumber And Intervene On BBC Local News Plans
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