MPs And Staff Say No To BBC Web Ads
BBC Staff, together with a group of MPs, have written a letter to the BBC Trust urging it to reject proposed advertising on its BBC.com international website.
The letter, published today in national newspapers, was signed by 10 MPs and follows an Early Day Motion submitted by Labour MP Austin Mitchell.
The MPs are concerned that hosting ads on the site would lead to accusations of impartiality in the broadcaster’s output, and fear the measures would eventually lead to ads appearing on the BBC’s domestic news and entertainment services.
They wrote: “Senior foreign correspondents have warned that taking adverts will diminish the BBC’s reputation overseas, and by extension, Britain’s – particularly in the Arab world where suspicions of western corporate interests run high, the very region we should be seeking to grow our reputation.
“If adverts are accepted on the international website, how long before BBC management contemplates their appearance on World Service, on web pages accessed within Britain, on Radio Three, on CBeebies?”
In addition, the letter states that technology used to block ads appearing on licence fee payer screens is far from perfect. The BBC is to use geo IP-blocking technology, a technology that detects where the web user is logging on from and if an ad should be sent.
Staff at the Corporation against the proposals for adverts on the site have made a final call for the director general, Mark Thompson, to abandon the scheme. An email was circulated amongst editorial staff which says that should the ads go ahead, the website’s integrity and reputation would be compromised. Staff had already expressed concern over the issue last summer (see BBC Staff Say No To Website Ads).
BBC executives have defended their measures, stating the proposed ads would be restricted to only a few sectors on BBC.com, including sport and technology, and that users in the UK would not be able to view the ads.
Earlier this week, an alliance of online publishers called on the BBC Trust to reject the proposals to put advertisements on the Corporation’s overseas internet service.
The British Internet Publishers’ Alliance (BIPA) said that whilst such revenues might seem superficially attractive as a means of ‘augmenting’ the licence fee, the collateral damage to the private sector would far outweigh any benefits (see Publishers Call On BBC Trust To Reject Online Ads).
The BBC Trust is expected to discuss the scheme at a meeting today and will make a final decision on whether or not to implement the proposals.
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