The Internet is proving a bit of a goldmine for the BBC, at least according to the head of BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the Beeb.
Speaking in London this week, BBC Worldwide Chief Executive John Smith said he was initially hoping to make at least 10 percent of its total revenues from the Internet, but has now realized this target is too low.
We think we will be able to beat it. It has gone from one percent to nearly four percent in just 18 months. So already we are starting to see that probably we have under-egged the extent to which we will see more of our revenues coming from the Internet.
A key element of the commercial strategy is to monetise the 40 million international web users who visit the BBC.
Our web newsroom is closely integrated with the print newsroom, so I am looking for people who can flourish in both worlds and who I could see fitting into many different jobs at The Times. Among other things, producers are responsible for packaging the news online and for creating original multimedia. As a result, they need to have solid journalism credentials and strong technical skills.
On the technical side, we want people to walk in the door with a proficiency in Photoshop, HTML and blogging software, and an understanding of Web publishing systems. Experience in the production of multimedia — including the use of audio and video editing tools — is strongly desirable. For our more specialized multimedia positions, we expect to see an extensive knowledge of Flash and an understanding of how to integrate databases into multimedia presentations.
This is good advice for all journalists. Every journalist should have a basic grasp of multimedia journalism. This sort of training should be mandatory in all journalism schools but is lacking in many.
As a side note, Eastern Illinois University has just approved a multimedia journalism class as a requirement for journalism majors beginning in Fall 2008.
The on-demand service, under the working title of Kangaroo, brings together the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.
All three broadcasters already offer programmes over the Internet but only in the UK. This international venture reflects the strength of British broadcasting.
Ashley Highfield, director of BBC Future Media and Technology. offers an insight into the reasons behind the venture in an entry on the BBC Internet blog.
Essentially this is a response to the emergence of other on-demand video services such as Joost or Babelgum,as Highfield does not want to leave it to these new players to “to own the relationship with our audiences”.
It’s critical that we engage with all UK licence fee payers, wherever they are and however they consume our services. And it’s critical that those services are not detrimentally disintermediated by other platforms and gateways – audiences must be aware that they are watching or listening to programmes and services from the BBC: in other words, that we have a deepening, direct relationship with them which is increasingly two-way.
It’s clear that the Beeb is concerned about the brand and ensuring that in a fragmented, new media world, the brand identity remains strong.
The purpose is look at ways of having the three media arms work more closely together, such as the CBC is trying out in its integrated news operation in Vancouver.
The timing of all of this is significant. It comes as politicians consider the future role of CBC.
UPDATE Nov 23: The Inside the CBC blog has more details on the briefings about the new, integrated CBC. Special emphasis was placed on reassuring the radio folks who are worried that a TV guy is now in charge of them.
The paper, “A clash of cultures: The integration of user-generated content within professional journalistic frameworks at British newspaper websites”, examines the response of the leading UK newspaper websites to user-generated content.
The big new story in Vancouver is the release of an amateur video that recorded the death of a man after he was stunned with a Taser by police in October.
The dramatic 10-minute video shows four RCMP officers talking to the man, Robert Dziekanski, at Vancouver International Airport, and then stunning him.
The video was shot by eye-witness Paul Pritchard with his digital camera and it has sparked much discussion about the role of citizen media in the news. In some ways, the video has become the story, as it is an illustration of the power of amateur reporting.
The raw and unfiltered nature of the video is its greatest strength but also its greatest weakness. The recording captures a shocking event but, by itself, it lacks context. It shows what happened, without does not provide any background or explanation. This is where the journalist comes in – he or she can help to put the events on the video in context and provide vital understanding of what is shown.
CBC Vancouver ran a piece on the evening news on Wednesday about the impact of citizen journalism, interviewing myself and one of my colleagues, Dan Burnett, at the UBC Graduate School of Journalism.
We have a new system that allows the great strengths of each of our editorial areas to create an even stronger editorial proposition.
Horrocks wants to know what you think, asking: “As a consumer of BBC News on the web, do you expect it to cover the same stories as BBC News on TV and radio?”
The editor of the web newsroom of The New York Times, Fiona Spruill, has been answering questions from readers all week.
The BBC has joined with other UK broadcasters to offer a 
The number one gift, says OJR, the 
One of the founders of the science blog, 
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