The BBC’s recently announced plans to offer its news and sport output for free via iPhone and Android apps has been causing a bit of FUSS among traditional UK media, with some important people complaining about the unfair way in which the BBC is using its public money to enter the commercial space.
That sounds very boring, sorry. Here’s what David Newell, director of the National Publishers Association, had to say about the Beeb’s app plans:
“Not for the first time, the BBC is preparing to muscle into a nascent market and trample over the aspirations of commercial news providers.
It is extremely disappointing that the corporation plans to launch services that would throw into serious doubt the commercial sector’s ability to make a return on its investment, and therefore its ability to support quality journalism”
It’s no surprise to hear yet more anger directed at the BBC. Most independent news resources in the UK are pretty fed up with what they perceive as an unlevel playing field, what with the way the BBC is funded via a licence fee levied on all UK TV owners – but everyone else has to pander to advertisers and backers and generally beg for funding to pay the wages.
Seeing the BBC channeling some of that money into taking over the app space must seem extremely unfair if you’re a struggling developer or news site, even though it’s good news for us consumers of the BBC’s output. Read more about this over at PC Pro. They’re much better at reporting on serious issues.
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