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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Time to unfollow them, I guess.

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.

Time to unfollow them, I guess.

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.

The UK obviously is no longer a superpower. But the BBC is the cornerstone of the UKs modern global soft power projection. Broadcasting it free projects the UK government’s voice around the world directly into homes, influencing world policy to their liking.

Putting a paywall in the US sends a message that they feel it is not needed or not effective in the US market.

It also mirrors what paid sport broadcasting in the UK has done. Paywall it for short term gain, at the expense of long term viewership growth. The UK is struggling.

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

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…

Thanks. Guardian might not be a bad alternative to try BTW, Sh.itjust.works isn't US based.

I imagine you wouldn't be saying this if it was your work being used.

If you went through the painstaking effort or writing a book or something, I imagine you'd be pretty unhappy if nobody wanted to reimburse you, and you were called a cunt for wanting to be paid for your labour.

Decent News Service?
The BBC is at best problematic.

I am guessing you’ve never watched (say) Fox News in the US?

I’m not saying the BBC is good per se. I’m saying it’s slightly more objective than the rest.

There is news that’s way more well done than BBC, like the intercept, byline times, propublica etc

Time to unfollow them, I guess.