Local editors revolt over BBC | Barclays back at Tele (for now) | BBC impartial on Israel says poll
And a news agency boss tries to single-handedly regulate the un-regulated newspapers
Good morning and welcome to your daily media news briefing on Tuesday, 5 December, brought to you today in association with Opti Digital, an adtech company developing innovative AI-based technologies designed to help publishers maximise their advertising revenues.
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Local newsbrands have made widespread cutbacks across the UK this year in the face of falling traffic and online adspend.
Fickle tech platforms appear to have changed the plumbing of the online world and publishers are losing out. Now they have to contend with new competition for readers from the BBC, which is ramping up its local news websites.
Six leading regional newsbrand leaders have today warned that the BBC's website plans will steal their readers and their journalists' jobs.
One of their biggest gripes is that the BBC does little to promote independent public interest journalism around the UK , instead choosing to compete with it.
Today we also report on a major survey which provides a report card for the BBC and others on impartiality and coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict. The survey has found that roughly as many Britons feel the BBC is biased in favour of Israel as think it instead supports Palestine.
And we also illustrate one of the dangers of not subscribing to a system of press regulation: unhappy complainants having nowhere to go and continuing to make trouble for you endlessly.
This is the case with news agency boss Michael Leidig, who is so fed up with The Guardian's in-house complaints service that he has launched a new pseudo press watchdog covering unregulated publishers (like The Guardian).
And we have the latest on the Telegraph and Spectator sale where the Barclays currently have the keys to the building again, but Abu Dhabi-backed IMI Redbird is pulling the strings. As to who will own the titles in three months’ time? That is still anyone’s guess.
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New from Press Gazette
Why BBC is ‘the neighbour from hell’ for leading regional newsbrand editors
“As the BBC carries no advertising and is entirely free to read, its stories tend to be prioritised by the big search engines over our journalism. At the same time, the BBC uses its vast monopolistic strength to promote its content. So, it has a huge anti-competitive advantage.”
Barclays take back control of Telegraph and Specator, for now
The Telegraph has invited its own readers to make submissions to Ofcom’s investigation into the takeover.
As many people think BBC is pro-Israel as think it is pro-Palestine, poll finds
Of the five organisations asked about, BBC News had the most respondents (36%) saying it covered the conflict neutrally – but also the second most people saying both that it had been biased in favour of Palestine (15%) and in favour of Israel (17%).
Unhappy Guardian complainant launches new watchdog for unregulated media
Michael Leidig’s dispute with The Guardian dates back to the publication of an article about the death of Dutch teenager Noa Pothoven, who had been widely but falsely reported to have been “legally euthanised”. The story cited Leidig’s news agency CEN as the source of the reports and said Leidig did not respond to a request for comment, which he denies.
Podcast 61: Why bad news can be good for business publishers with Dow Jones CEO Almar Latour
Dow Jones chief executive and Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour spoke to Press Gazette about how the financial news division of News Corp just managed to achieve its most profitable quarter since 2007.
In this edited version of his interview at the Press Gazette Media Strategy Network event in New York this month, he also spoke about what publishers need to focus on as global uncertainty looks set to continue in 2024.
News in brief
The editors of the British, Australian and US editions of The Guardian have written to staff asking them not to sign open letters or petitions relating to the Israel-Hamas conflict, saying signatures "can be perceived as a potential conflict of interest". (Australian Financial Review)
An association of 83 Spanish media outlets has launched a €550m lawsuit against Meta, accusing the company of unfair competition in the advertising market. (Reuters)
The former Harvard academic who published Frances Haugen's Facebook leaks has filed a complaint with the US Education Department accusing the university of dismissing her to curry favour with Meta just as it was set to make a $500m donation. (The Washington Post)
Previously on Press Gazette
Police chief sacked for lying sues Northern Echo over phone-monitoring claim
Into The Guardian cinematic universe: Publisher movie deals explained
Mirror strikes victory for honest opinion as Dyson loses £1m libel bid
Explained: Why Telegraph sale has been paused after RedBird IMI deal with Barclays
Piers Morgan’s likely libel defence over naming of royals in racism row
