BBC v the locals: Gloves are off as regional media fights for survival
Everything comms pros need to know in a big week for local publishers in the battle to thrive against Big Brother BBC.
The media landscape is changing at pace – and keeping up with the latest developments and moves will give every comms expert an advantage over their rivals. Every week we will take a look at the media business from mainstream and ‘legacy’ media to cutting edge tech and the latest trends and developments – and how you can use that know-how.
All news is local. Or at least that’s what local publishers will claim.
And, of course, when there’s a terror attack on a shopping centre, a high-profile court case, an uplifting story of bravery or a key football match, it is indeed local, even if it may interest a wider audience.
The truth is that although there is genuinely great local journalism being produced – and as we have argued before it’s a part of the media that offers rich pickings for PR and comms – and new innovative players entering local journalism, commercially it remains a struggle in the regions.
In print, the great names of regional journalism like the Manchester Evening News are selling just a few thousand copies a day at best. And online, the fight for eyeballs is as intense as ever.
Part of that is the way Google algorithms can work against smaller publishers. Part of it is also the dominance of the BBC and its growing reach into the local and regional news and general coverage. The BBC’s share of local news page views increased from 20% in 2022 to 34% in 2025, according to Ofcom. One suggestion is that it is partly responsible for a 20% decline in page views to local content for commercial operators.
Reach Plc, publisher of a raft of local papers and websites as well as the Mirror and Express, has argued this week that the BBC uses its “dominant” market position to “distort” the local news ecosystem and has advantages commercial publishers do not have.
In a response to a Government green paper on the future of the BBC Charter, the publisher angrily claimed the BBC’s investment and strong visibility in Google Search due to the broadcaster not running adverts meant it was consistently listed above commercial outlets.
There are arguments both ways. Is it the remit of the BBC to encroach on local publishers, social media and the rest? Should the local press be investing more and making their products better, cheaper and more user friendly?
But there is some good news.
