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The BBC is launching a paywall in the US (www.niemanlab.org)
submitted 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) by Pro@programming.dev to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Time to unfollow them, I guess.

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[-] obinice@lemmy.world 9 points 1 hour ago

Makes sense, we pay our licence fee for our public service, why should people abroad get for free what we have to pay for?

I was happy with the current arrangement of adverts supporting the service use abroad, but if it has to migrate to a subscription model to meet modern demands then that's the way it is.

I wouldn't go to another country and ask them to make one of their government's national public services free for me to use, after all.

[-] crapwittyname@lemm.ee 1 points 19 minutes ago

Nah mate. Information is free the second it leaves its source. Any attempt to curtail it after then is just a cunts trick.

[-] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 7 points 1 hour ago

The world service was always free because it’s a propaganda platform that promotes Britain and British values abroad. I guess they are content just to push Reform propaganda to a domestic audience from now on.

[-] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 15 points 3 hours ago

Given that I'm stateside, this makes me sad. But given that they are funded by UK taxpayers, this is probably the right move.

Of course, that's just one less outlet for USA citizens to get accurate journalism (better than here, anyway) about what's happening in our country. Hope Al Jazeera doesn't follow suit.

[-] Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 6 points 1 hour ago

Although, you could also argue that those taxes pay for informing and influencing citizens of foreign nations.

America’s media ecosystem is dominated by Fox, Sinclair, and other state party media players. There is a strategic benefit to having a media outlet that doesn’t run through the state media filter.

[-] j0ester@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

Guess I’ll be using VPN

[-] alexc@lemmy.world 17 points 3 hours ago

And just at a time when the US really needs a decent news service…

I am sure this was discussed at the Starmer - Trump talks as a way to further isolate Americans from the truth.

I guess it’s just Al-Jazeera now…

[-] tormeh@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 3 hours ago

Exactly this. Isn't the point of the BBC world service to communicate/propagandise the British view of what's happening in the world to other countries? Imagine Russia Today adding a paywall? It's counter to the entire point! I think you may be on to something about this being a concession to Trump.

[-] alexc@lemmy.world 1 points 52 minutes ago

Actually, the World Service will remain accessible, but that’s also not where most people go these days.

[-] knacht1@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago

Al Bawaba used to do well also ...

[-] NameTaken@lemmy.world 22 points 4 hours ago

It seems just for people in the US. So hopefully the rest of us will be fine.

[-] NotSteve_@lemmy.ca 22 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

I love the US defaultism even when they’re talking about another country’s public news station

(edit: the title originally just said it was adding a paywall without mention of any country)

[-] 9point6@lemmy.world 4 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

It does actually seem like it's only the US for now

Unless I've misunderstood your comment

BBC article: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2vgkn7w10o

[-] NotSteve_@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 hour ago

I asked OP to update the title in another comment which they did (and appreciate) but it made this comment of mine confusing 😅. The original title didn’t have any mention of which country. It just said they were adding a paywall

[-] AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

What's the defaultism here?

[-] NotSteve_@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

The original title just said something like “BBC is now paywalled” making it sound like it applied to more than 1 of the 195 (worldometers.info recognised) countries in the world.

I’m not British but it’d be pretty alarming to hear that the BBC was adding a paywall that applied to the British if I was British

[-] errer@lemmy.world 6 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Honestly this sucks balls for the US. One more credible news source made less accessible.

[-] BeBopaLula@piefed.ca 1 points 2 hours ago

Would not be surprised if it was not Thiel and gang ensuring only the billionaires newspapers are read by all us plebes by paying BBC to go paywall.

[-] SnotFlickerman 34 points 4 hours ago

Gotta get that TV loicense.

[-] PhobosAnomaly@feddit.uk 9 points 4 hours ago

I suppose the TV licence in the UK is a sort of paywall, even if it is made of swiss cheese and enforced by folk with all the legal standing of Larry the Head Mouser or whatever moggy it is now.

I pay it, but I'm loathed to now. Not because I watch any live TV or BBC programming, but because I use the BBC News site a metric fucktonne and I suppose I justify it to myself as funding the BBC News department rather than Graham Norton's salary.

Maybe I'll fuck it off though. I do fancy a letter war with Capita or whoever managed the enforcement these days.

[-] Humanius@lemmy.world 14 points 4 hours ago

So that sounds to me that Americans should use a VPN to pretend they are accessing the website from Europe

[-] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 2 points 40 minutes ago

Seems like a high bar for checking the news. I'll just switch to a different news outlet.

Shame to further isolate the US towards the largely crappy intranational journalism options.

[-] NotSteve_@lemmy.ca 10 points 4 hours ago

BBC announced it’s introducing a paywall for consumers in the U.S

It seems like it’s only for the US? If that’s true can you update the title OP

[-] Pro@programming.dev 5 points 3 hours ago

🌹Done🌹

[-] NotSteve_@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 hours ago

Awesome thanks! 😊

[-] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 hours ago

They're not that great anyway. They're barely holding on to my personal list of reliable sources. If I really need something, there are other places to go. Good luck BBC.

[-] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 1 points 45 minutes ago

Any recommendations for a good replacement? I check BBC world on the daily but will be stopping as soon as this kicks in.

[-] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 1 points 34 minutes ago

The Guardian isn't horrible, but not perfect. Reuters, if you squint, is pretty good 3/4 of the time. Propublica is great for investigative journalism. All of them have horrible headline writers at least half the time. Politico isn't worth checking, but every month or so, you might miss something. It's a mixed bag basically, so you have to check out a few.

I try to post the "real" stuff (not what trump says, but what he and the republicans are doing) on politics at sh.itjust.works on weekdays. It's US based and I'm anti-right.

[-] dastanktal@lemmy.ml 6 points 4 hours ago

Eh nothing of value was lost

[-] ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.world 3 points 3 hours ago

I know there’s rights issues and all but if they made a real BBC streaming service with their back catalog and every David Attenborough special in 4K, it’d be one thing but Americans are inundated with news and streaming services. I pay for my local newspaper’s digital site — mostly because if I don’t, who will? But even The NY Times has to have recipes and word games to keep people subscribed. Why would anyone pay more than a dollar a month or something for BBC News?

The U.S. seems like an odd place to trial this. It’s the most competitive media market in the world and we’re all already sick of being asked to pay for 40 different services. In conclusion:🏴‍☠️

[-] cupcakezealot@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 3 hours ago

i mean they basically have that with britbox

[-] Mrkawfee@feddit.uk 2 points 3 hours ago

BBC is Israeli propaganda so no loss.

[-] knacht1@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

$25 a month for the NYT.

[-] mintiefresh@piefed.social 3 points 4 hours ago

Feels like subscriptions are inevitable for everything these days.

[-] NENathaniel@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 hours ago

Well to be fair, a perpetual license for media/news wouldn't make sense

this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2025
118 points (100.0% liked)

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