Wherever public-financed media exist, private media will express concerns that tax dollars are essentially at work to undermine their business. The latest fracas in this field is the concern in Britain that the BBC's new digital initiatives to generate more local relevance through a 68-million-pound investment in local video sites is an encroachment on the smaller-town newspaper franchises.
The Newspaper Society, the entity representing those papers, has submitted a lengthy argument to the federal regulating body that outlines its case. The BBC, meanwhile, has indicated its efforts are necessary for its own relevance.
It's a predictable dispute made even more predictable by foreseen circumstances --- the notion of national media breaks down in the digital sphere. Local relevance is easier to manufacture.
