BBC 'harms press freedom', says Murdoch heir

EDINBURGH - James Murdoch, the heir to his father Rupert's News Corporation media empire, clashed with the BBC's business editor, Robert Peston, yesterday as he called for the BBC's website to be "dealt with" to prevent it damaging the freedom of the press in Britain.

In a public debate at the Edinburgh Television Festival, Murdoch stepped up an attack on the corporation which he began the previous evening in the formal James MacTaggart memorial lecture, describing the growth of the BBC as "chilling".

He targeted the BBC's online operation, bbc.co.uk, one of the most viewed websites in the world. Murdoch said the news element of the site posed a threat to the future of independent journalism in Britain.

"The news operation is causing immense problems, huge problems for the independent news business, and I think it has to be dealt with," he said.

The comments will be seen as a response to Rupert Murdoch's comments this month, made after the announcement of a sharp fall in profits at News Corp, that his newspapers would start charging for their online content.

And, in a clear signal that Britain's Conservative Party is increasingly in accord with the Murdoch world-view, the Opposition joined the assault on the BBC website, raising objections to the millions the corporation is allowed to plough into its internet operation.

Jeremy Hunt, the Tory spokesman for culture, said he had no plans to force the BBC to charge for its website in the future - but he would not rule it out.

The intervention will be seen as a significant indication that David Cameron's Tories are reluctant to cross swords with the Murdoch empire during a critical period when his endorsement could be a decisive factor in the general election campaign.

Hunt said: "We recognise that the BBC news site is, for many licence-fee payers, an important part of the value they get from their money.

"But our concern is that it could make it difficult for other organisations to run viable operations."

But James Murdoch, the News Corp chairman and chief executive for Europe and Asia, was challenged by Peston.

The broadcaster warned that a commercial digital market in news could not be relied upon to "distribute information in a way that would support a healthy democracy".

He claimed commercial news organisations were so beset by falling advertising revenues that "charging for online news will become the norm". But he suggested that commercial players would be drawn towards "the more sensationalist and titillating bangs for buck".

James Murdoch said earlier that the strong position of the BBC website, which was "crowding" the British news environment, made Britain the most difficult market for commercial media organisations to persuade consumers to start paying for news content. Speaking yesterday, the BBC business editor predicted that all news organisations, except the BBC, would soon charge for content.

He said there was a "counter argument" that commercial news media could not always be relied on to give the public the information they needed.

"Having just lived through the greatest failure in history to distribute financial resources in an efficient and equitable way, we certainly shouldn't assume that a commercial digital market in news will distribute information in a way that would support a healthy democracy."

- INDEPENDENT