BBC 'To Close Recipes Website' As Part Of £15m Savings

[pcstru]

Is it? It always seems like both sides are complaining about its coverage, which is usually a good sign it's striking the right balance if everyone is equally offended. It feels to me like the BBC remains remarkarbly neutral, particularly in the face of some of the comments from Whittingdale.

The BBC has been subject to enormous pressures in the past from governments. I'd agree that they have mostly maintained a reasonable balance in spite of the pressures although they are often a bit wobbly when looking at their own issues. IMO the scrutiny that the BBC gets from other high quality news outlets is a major factor in maintaining neutrality. If that scrutiny evaporates because those organisations that do the scrutiny cannot compete with the BBC in a new online world, the balance will inevitably shift.

[pcstru]

So should the BBC stop doing travel bulletins on its radio programs simply because commercial radio does it (albeit not as well)?

IMO that is reasonably part of their local service and is within the remit of "informing" listeners to their local broadcasts. Should they do a UK wide iPhone travel app which would exploit that information in a new webby/digital world way? No.

[jinnantonnixx]

Is it? It always seems like both sides are complaining about its coverage, which is usually a good sign it's striking the right balance if everyone is equally offended. It feels to me like the BBC remains remarkarbly neutral, particularly in the face of some of the comments from Whittingdale.

 

This is old, but interesting all the same.

Hard Evidence: how biased is the BBC?

[HarryMonkey]

IMO that is reasonably part of their local service and is within the remit of "informing" listeners to their local broadcasts. Should they do a UK wide iPhone travel app which would exploit that information in a new webby/digital world way? No.

 

So the argument shifts to not what they do but the media they choose to use.

[Arthur]

If it competes with commercial interests

That's the problem though (according to the government)...

 

www.theguardian.com/media/2016/may/17/online-recipes-off-the-menu-of-slimmed-down-bbc

 

In an interview last July before the funding settlement with the BBC, Osborne indicated that the licence-fee-funded BBC should not be allowed to crowd out newspaper competition.

 

“If you’ve got a website that’s got features and cooking recipes – effectively the BBC website becomes the national newspaper as well as the national broadcaster. There are those sorts of issues we need to look at very carefully,” he said.

 

“You wouldn’t want the BBC to completely crowd out national newspapers. If you look at the BBC website it is a good product but it is becoming a bit more imperial in its ambitions.”

 

The BBC has fought back by pointing out that online competition is now global; it accounts for about 4.5% of UK adults’ time online compared with Facebook’s 20%.

[zag]

As someone who actually runs a recipe website, I welcome this.

 

Its not fair that a public service with 5 billion a year budget can squeeze out people like me who are trying to make the next big thing.

[BassTech]

The BBC have obviously done this on purpose to generate public anger towards government, following the recent changes/cuts introduced. They know people love the recipes website, and that getting rid of it won't save any money. It's been done purely out of spite, much like a toddler throwing their toys out of the pram when they can't have things their own way. Pathetic really and it will only hurt their image more in the long-term.

 

I'm sure someone will rip the entire recipe directory anyway, just download that and save it for offline use, or rip it yourself.

Edited May 17, 2016 by BassTech

[Arthur]

I'm sure someone will rip the entire recipe directory anyway, just download that and save it for offline use, or rip it yourself.

Yep!

 

 

&

 

http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/webarchive/2016/05/saving-bbc-recipes-website.html

[jinnantonnixx]

The BBC have obviously done this on purpose to generate public anger towards government, following the recent changes/cuts introduced. They know people love the recipes website, and that getting rid of it won't save any money. It's been done purely out of spite, much like a toddler throwing their toys out of the pram when they can't have things their own way. Pathetic really and it will only hurt their image more in the long-term.

 

I'm sure someone will rip the entire recipe directory anyway, just download that and save it for offline use, or rip it yourself.

 

You could be right. I can't see how moving recipes from one web site to another can be a huge money saver.

 

However, I think it was well played by the BBC. They're showing that they can play a little dirty, too.

 

I find it difficult to imagine that John Whittingdale would have come up with his 'challenging' white paper in a vacuum.

Revealed: Senior MP's secret links to Murdoch | UK Politics | News | The Independent

John Whittingdale: I'm not to blame for BBC dropping recipes | Media | The Guardian

Edited May 17, 2016 by jinnantonnixx

[pcstru]

So the argument shifts to not what they do but the media they choose to use.

The argument is all of what they do, how they do it and why. The 'argument' is run in anger every decade with the renewal/amendment of the charter. Within those constraints there is always, despite the huge size of the BBC, the issue of money. Even in areas where there is no dispute that the BBC has a remit to compete, there are questions about how the decisions about what gets made get made.

[6Foot2]

[zag]

The really strange thing is that the government white paper on the BBC was a complete whitewash in favor of the BBC.

 

All the things the government threatened such as making stars salary's public over 120k didn't happen.

 

The BBC must be laughing all the way to the bank after that! I'm surprised they need to play these "dirty tricks" after a very favorable charter review.

[Andrew_C]

I think it points out to The Mail readers that if you cut funding to someone/thing then something you like might get chopped.

[pcstru]

The really strange thing is that the government white paper on the BBC was a complete whitewash in favor of the BBC.

Either that or there is a cozy "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" thing going on between all those old Eton and Oxbridge types that find the BBC a nice cozy little club. Almost takes you back 90 years to the early days of the BBC and Reith conspiring with the government to bring citizens 'news' during the 1926 general strike!

[sparkeh]

Recipes moving to BBC Good Food instead: BBC's recipes U-turn is a cynical move, say its rivals | Media | The Guardian

[psydii]

Either that or there is a cozy "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" thing going on

 

That is more or less the way the world works if you have resources to control, but need support from controllers of other resources to achieve your ambitions.

 

When it comes to it, 'technical merit' (in this case for example philosophical position or strategy) tends not to be the deciding factor in how/why things get done.

[zag]

Recipes moving to BBC Good Food instead: BBC's recipes U-turn is a cynical move, say its rivals | Media | The Guardian

 

Suprise suprise! Its almost as if it was never going to go and they found the most controversial cut to get some publicity