BBC playing ‘catch-up’ with Vice News, says Newsbeat editor

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/oct/15/bbc-newsbeat-playing-catch-up-vice-news

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The editor of BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat has admitted the corporation is playing “catch-up” with Vice News and that she is “shackled” by in-house technology that can take up to five hours to upload a video.

Louisa Compton said Vice News, one of the fastest growing channels on YouTube and part of New York-based Vice Media which has an audience of 130 million people a month, had taught the BBC’s news department lessons across the board.

“From a BBC point of view there is definitely an element of playing catch-up on Vice,” Compton told the Radio Festival on Wednesday. “There is no doubt about that. They have obviously cornered the market and doing something really really well that the BBC hasn’t been doing, across the board on BBC News.

“We shouldn’t feel threatened by it, we are all big enough to compete heathily alongside as many different platforms as possible.

“They have definitely taught us something and the BBC across the board is learning from that”.

Asked if she felt shackled by corporation working practices, Compton, the former daytime editor of 5 Live who took over the Radio 1 news service in April, said: “I do feel shackled quite a lot of the time.”

“One of our biggest frustrations, which is part of a BBC issue and the platforms we use, is the time it takes to upload any video.

“You can put a video on YouTube in about five seconds. Sometimes it takes five hours just to upload a video on our platform. That is a great frustration.”

Compton has been tasked with spearheading the BBC’s switch to digital-first, using video, mobile and online to reach a 15- to 24-year-old audience who are switching off the radio in their droves.

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