Public Sector Competition

Why is it important?

News media publishers are by far the biggest investors in news and information. They compete fiercely with one another for stories, audiences and advertisers. This competition is a key driver of quality and helps to ensure that a plurality of voices exists within the industry. Competition on a level playing field fuels better services and contributes to a diverse and vibrant news media landscape. But when independent publishers are forced to compete with state-funded news providers the balance of the market can become fundamentally disrupted, with far reaching consequences for publishers.  

Current situation

Taxpayers’ funds should not be used for anything which directly harms independent businesses. The BBC News website has had a profound impact on the digital strategies of UK news media publishers who are forced to compete with a state-funded provider of news and information which is free to consumers at the point of delivery.

At a local level, BBC local websites all too often piggyback on the work of independent news providers without properly attributing their source.

The BBC News website has had a profound impact upon the digital strategies of UK news media publishers

The industry successfully campaigned for new rules preventing local authorities from publishing council newspapers

The local news media sector has also had to contend with the unwelcome rise of aggressive council newspapers which are published by local authorities but are designed to look like independent newspapers. These publications, described by Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles as “town hall Pravdas”, can inflict serious damage on independent newspapers by competing with them for readers and advertising.

These threats have added to the economic challenges faced by the local media industry.

What is the NMA doing about it?

The NMA believes that news media publishers should be allowed to compete in a fair marketplace which does not include taxpayer-funded state competitors.  The industry successfully campaigned for new rules preventing local authorities from publishing council newspapers more often than quarterly and looks forward to these being enforced by the Government.

The NMA will be contributing to in the BBC Charter renewal process and articulating the concerns of member publishers throughout that process. The industry has already won assurances that the BBC will not overextend its local services into the territory of local media publishers and is exploring ways the BBC could co-exist with local news media providers in a mutually beneficial way through pilot schemes and trials.