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Hands off the BBC License Fee
The NUJ - with other media unions - is distributing thousands of post cards for people to send to the UK government to protest at a possible attack on the BBC licence fee.
The secretary of state for Culture Media and Sport is considering top slicing the fee - to give some of it to commercial companies to produce local news.The unions have already put forward alternative funding suggestions for public service content in media other than the BBC. Top slicing would cut the budget for the Corporation’s output and put public money in the hands of profit-hungry shareholders rather than programme makers. Sue Harris, NUJ Broadcasting Organiser, said:“With the expansion into online and digital services the BBC’s budget is already tight and there have been thousands of job cuts already with more to come.“The licence fee should be spent on public service broadcasting - not used to subsidise the profits of commercial companies.“Keeping the BBC strong ensures that other broadcasters produce similar high quality programming that is created in, and reflects the culture of, the UK.”
Jeremy Dear, NUJ General Secretary, said:
“We have research that shows levies on telecom and internet companies that re-broadcast editorial content without paying for it could support commercial news programmes.“We want the minister to consider those options.
“Journalists at the BBC have lots of workplace issues - but they are committed to working for a publicly-funded but independent public service broadcasting service.“Cutting BBC budgets to bolster the profits of companies that are currently slashing and burning the rest of the media is not the way to improve the flow of information and comment to the citizens of the UK.” The battle against top-slicing will include events at forthcoming party conferences and a lobby of parliament on Wednesday 14 October.
For background and links see www.nuj.org.uk
The Alternative?
In June, the NUJ has published an eight-point plan to reinvigorate local journalism and has written to Ben Bradshaw to urge him to back the NUJ’s Economic Stimulus Plan for local journalism.
General Secretary Jeremy Dear has also called for face-to-face talks about the cutbacks hitting jobs in newsrooms. Jeremy’s letter includes details of the proposed package of measures that would boost editorial investment, strengthen local journalism and provide the stimulus needed to get new local media models off the ground. Previous culture chief Andy Burnham brought the local media industry together for a major meeting in April following a call for an industry summit by the NUJ.
In his letter to the minister about the current economic situation Jeremy said:
“There are many options open to government and no single solution but every decision - from media ownership rules to strategic use of government advertising, from training to the funding of public service broadcasting - must have as a benchmark how it helps to promote quality journalism.”
The NUJ economic stimulus plan calls for:
- The reform of cross-media ownership rules with a strengthened public interest test.
- A hard and fast commitment to ring-fence licence fee funding for the BBC.
- A levy introduced on commercial operators who benefit from quality public service content - including local news - but do not contribute to its production.
- Tax breaks for local media who meet clearly defined public purposes.
- Tax credits for individuals who buy quality media.
- Direct support to help establish new genuinely local media organisations.
- Strategic use of central and local government advertising.
- Support for training opportunities that open access to journalism.
Click here for more information about the report.
The plan comes as the UK government is finalising its Digital Britain report. Parliamentary campaigning is part of an NUJ
union-wide battle against media cutbacks.
More than 130 MPs have signed a parliamentary motion which "calls on the Government to explore innovative solutions to preserve local journalism and to ensure that state support, either in the form of deregulatory measures or financial help, is given only where firm guarantees on investment in local journalism are secured."
