In an unprecedented move for the public service broadcaster’s global operations, the BBC has given its newsroom publishing license in India to Collective Newsroom, a private limited company. This takes place a year after searches of BBC offices were carried out by the Income Tax Department.
Four former BBC staff founded Collective Newsroom, a fully Indian firm that will launch on April 10. It will produce content in seven languages—English, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu—for the BBC’s digital platforms.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs states that on October 27, 2020, Collective Newsroom Private Limited was incorporated. The CEO of Collective Newsroom, Rupa Jha, stated to The Indian Express, daily Indian print and digital platform, that although the BBC is their first client, they are not the only ones on board.
She gave her word that the content would respect the BBC brand and follow its editorial guidelines. “Giving the BBC’s publishing license to another organization is extraordinary… The BBC is firmly behind us, and we won’t compromise our journalism,” she declared.
The new Foreign Direct Investment regulations, which imposed a 26% FDI cap on India’s digital media sector, prompted the reorganization in 2020.
By October 2021, the BBC had to lower its foreign investment to comply with this legislation, having pursued a 26% ownership stake in Collective Newsroom. Rupa Jha underlined that this course of action was taken to keep the BBC in India without having to lay off employees or go bankrupt.
“There were a number of options before us. Considering that the BBC didn’t want to lose its presence in India or cut jobs, and they didn’t want to become financially unviable, this forced us to think out of the box. Based on the legal advice the BBC was receiving, everyone was veering towards this as the viable option (of setting up the Collective),” Jha explained.
