Impact of BBC's local news expansion to be looked at in Charter renewal talks, says Media Minister

Ms Peacock, who is Labour MP for Barnsley South, visited The Yorkshire Post’s offices in Leeds on Friday to praise the “really important” role local and regional newspapers have played in covering the recent riots and speak to editorial staff from The Yorkshire Post and its parent company National World.

National World is a member of the News Media Association, which warned in a pre-election manifesto that the BBC is having an “increasingly severe impact” on the local news industry.

It follows the BBC cutting more than 130 jobs in local radio while creating a similar number of roles in online local news. The BBC is able to run online news stories without adverts or paid subscribers due to its licence fee funding, which the NMA argues puts it at an unfair competitive advantage.

The NMA’s manifesto said: “The BBC Charter requires the BBC to ‘avoid adverse impacts on competition’ but in recent years the guardrails which are supposed to protect commercial media from harmful market distortions caused by the BBC have completely failed.

“The next Government must use the Charter renewal period to ensure that the BBC’s status as a publicly funded, dominant market actor does not allow the Corporation to further supplant the key role of the commercial news sector.”

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The BBC’s current charter runs until the end of 2027 and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said last month that his Government is committed to the BBC and its licensing arrangements after the Conservatives had previously suggested scrapping the licence fee.

When asked by The Yorkshire Post whether she agreed with the NMA’s call for the BBC’s online expansion to be looked at by Government as local media also faces parallel challenges from social media, Ms Peacock said: “I'm familiar with the NMA's manifesto which came out ahead of the general election.

"The BBC has a very important role to play. Myself and the Secretary of State [Lisa Nandy] are very clear we support the BBC and as the public service broadcaster it has a unique and important role in the UK and is operationally independent of the Government.

"I think some of the challenges you talk about will be and should be looked at in the Charter renewal."

She added that the process of discussing the BBC charter renewal for 2028 and beyond will start “quite soon”.

"These are questions that should be explored in that process.”

In Parliament in June 2023, Ms Peacock criticised the BBC’s change to strategy away from local radio towards online news and warned about its impact on commercial outlets.

She said at the time: “Local journalism is a fragile ecosystem. The BBC plans to increase digital output in place of local radio, but that will put undue pressure on the system by providing unwanted competition to local papers and other media outlets that are already struggling to stay afloat.”

Ms Peacock said on Friday there had been cross-party concern about the BBC’s strategic changes to local radio.

She added: "The BBC is independent and it is a decision for the BBC and I made my view very clear. But at the time I don't think any MP of any colour spoke in favour of the BBC's changes.

"The collective voice of the House of Commons as was was made very clear. But it is for the BBC to make those decisions."

Ms Peacock also praised the work of reporters across the country during the recent riots and disorder.

She said: “It is important to say thank you to journalists and acknowledge they are doing on the frontline and the real risks they are taking. Local and national journalists have been in the thick of it, putting themselves at risk to make the public have information they can rely on. In an age of increasing disinformation and misinformation that is a really important role.”

She added: “I’m incredibly supportive of local media. I have a good relationship with local media in my area, The Yorkshire Post and the Barnsley Chronicle.

"That local news ecosystem whether it be broadcast or print journalism which does rely on each other is a balancing act and is facing pressure.

"Now more than ever, as we’ve seen in the last few weeks, having that reliable source of local information and news is really important. It’s not an easy issue to tackle but we are open to hear all ideas because we do want to see local media survive and thrive into the future.”

In January, the previous Government said Ofcom should publish an annual review of the BBC’s position in the local news sector but also stated its current output does not equate to a “one-for-one substitute” for commercial providers.

An Ofcom assessment of the BBC changes said they were “likely” to result in local news companies losing between 2.44 and 4.78 per cent of current digital advertising revenue but did also model a scenario where up to 13.74 per cent could be lost.

It said it did not believe the changes would result in a “significant adverse impact on fair and effective competition” but added it will monitor their impact.

A BBC spokesperson said: “We are reshaping our local services to increase the value we deliver to audiences and to ensure we keep pace with changing audience expectations.

“There is no evidence that the BBC is crowding out other digital publishers; we work collaboratively across the industry; and, our partnership with the NMA has transformed coverage of local democracy across the UK.

“All our public services are looked at as part of Charter renewal and we look forward to engaging with the Government on our Charter at the appropriate time.”