[cma-l] Lord Hall - BBC and Community Reporters

[David Duffy]

Dear All,
The BBC’s Lord Hall is about to make the first of four speeches outlining the BBC’s future.  What will it mean for community radio?
Among the specific plans he will outline includes a multi-million pound investment in journalism, with a network of 100 public service reporters across the country to deliver news from courts and councils. 
This is a great opportunity for community radio as a body to tap into a publicly-funded journalistic resource that could be and should be working directly with local stations.
The BBC is also going to create a 'hub' for data journalism, giving local newspapers access to its statistical analysis, and offer audio and video clips free to other websites. 
I hope the CMA is talking with both the BBC and DCMS. 
Providing licence fee funded resources to privately owned media organisations ahead of not-for-profit community broadcasters is clearly unacceptable. A partnership with the BBC should have ambition and deliver outcomes that are more tangible than is currently framed in the memorandum of understanding.
Local news is essential for a strong democracy and community radio needs to be at the forefront of its delivery. What the BBC is tabling is an unprecedented offer that would put millions into a local journalism partnership.  Community radio needs to be an equal partner in that.

David Duffy
theradiopeople.co.uk <http://theradiopeople.co.uk/> 
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