BBC Trust Defers Online Ad Decision

The BBC Trust has put off making a decision on whether to allow adverts on the BBC’s international website until later this Spring.

In a statement, the Trust said: “For the BBC to meet its purpose internationally, it must invest more online. It cannot use the licence fee for this purpose.

“One option is to carry advertising – where appropriate and subject to robust editorial safeguards – in line with the BBC’s existing approach internationally on television.

“The Trust has considered the proposals from management for the BBC.com website very carefully, but we are not currently satisfied we have all the information we think is necessary to reach a decision.

“Consequently we have asked the BBC management to do further work – particularly around how advertising revenue would be reinvested in BBC Global News and the BBC’s UK public services for the benefit of licence fee payers.”

This news follows the call by an alliance of online publishers for the BBC Trust to reject the proposals put forward (see Publishers Call On BBC Trust To Reject Online Ads).

Acting BBC Chairman Chitra Bharucha said: “The Trust must act in the public interest. We seek evidence to inform our discussions and reach our decisions through a mix of factual analysis and judgement. Governing a creative organisation on behalf of the public – whose BBC it is – allows for no other approach.”

Yesterday, NewsLine reported that BBC Staff, together with a group of MPs, had written a letter to the BBC Trust urging it to reject proposed advertising on its BBC.com international website (see MPs And Staff Say No To BBC Web Ads)

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