Revenue from US and corporation tax paid in US

Waiting for an internal review by British Broadcasting Corporation of their handling of this request.

Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,

I wish to know for any recent year:

1. The total amount of revenue generated from advertising on the BBC news web site (or a wider collection of BBC web sites if no specifics for the BBC news web site are available).

2. What proportion of non-UK traffic of the web site / sites in (1) are from the USA.

3. How much US corporation tax is paid by the BBC on the advertising revenue in (1).

Yours faithfully,

Dr. Ken Tindell

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

Dear Mr Tindell,

Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, as detailed in your email below. Your request was received on 25th April 2012. We will deal with your request as promptly as possible, and at the latest within 20 working days. If you have any queries about your request, please contact us at the address below.

The reference number for your request is RFI20120464.

Kind regards

The Information Policy & Compliance Team

BBC Freedom of Information
Room 2252, BBC White City
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TS

www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: [BBC request email]

Tel: 020 8008 2882
Fax: 020 8008 2398

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FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

1 Attachment

Link: [1]File-List

Dear Dr Tindall,

 

Please find attached the response to your request for information,
reference RFI20120464

 

Yours sincerely

Rebecca Turner

 

BBC Information Policy and Compliance

Room 2252, White City

201 Wood Lane

London W12 7TS, UK

 

Website: www.bbc.co.uk/foi

Email: mailto:[BBC request email]

Tel: 020 8008 2883

Fax: 020 8008 2398

 

 

 
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Dear FOI Enquiries,

The reasons for refusing to comply with the request are specious. I am requesting financial information from the BBC. Since the BBC is tax-payer funded this is a matter of public interest. I wish to know how much money the BBC raises from America and how much tax it pays in America. This is no different to requesting information regarding other sources of income for the BBC, such as Foreign Office payments or licence fee revenue, which have been disclosed.

My request has nothing to do with the creative or editorial aspects of the BBC and thus the exemptions to do with journalism and freedom of expression are irrelevant. You have as a consequence erred in refusing my request and I therefore request an internal review.

Yours sincerely,

Ken Tindell

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

Dear Dr Tindall,

Many thanks for your email below.

As explained in our response to you (RFI20120464), the BBC does not offer an internal review when the information requested is not covered by the Act. If you disagree with our decision you can appeal to the Information Commissioner. Contact details are:

Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF telephone 01625 545 700. www.ico.gov.uk

It may be helpful if I explain that the BBC considers that the derogation protects the journalistic, artistic and literary integrity of the BBC by securing a creative and journalistic space for programme makers to produce material for broadcast free from interference by those who would seek to influence our output. The BBC's understanding of the scope of the derogation has been informed by numerous cases, including the recent consideration by the Supreme Court, in the case of Sugar (deceased) v British Broadcasting Corporation and another [2012] UKSC 4, of the Schedule 1 'derogation' for the public service broadcasters in relation to journalism. Lord Phillips noted the BBC’s ‘important right to freedom of expression’ and the link between Schedule 1 of the Act and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Additionally, as also recognised by the Supreme Court, it recognizes that public service broadcasters caught by the Act (BBC, Channel 4, S4C, MG Alba) should not be placed at a disadvantage to their commercial competitors.

In practical terms, the BBC has interpreted this to mean that we are not required to supply information held for the purposes of creating the BBC's output or information that supports or is closely associated with these activities.

You might find it useful to review the Decision Notices from the Information Commissioner, regarding the application of the derogation to information held by the BBC. These Decision Notices can be found at the following URL: http://www.ico.gov.uk/tools_and_resource... - using the search function, if you select the BBC as the 'Authority' and FOI 1 as the 'Section' you will find a number of relevant Decision Notices.

Yours Sincerely,

BBC Information Policy and Compliance
Room 2252, White City
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TS, UK

Website: www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: mailto:[BBC request email]
Tel: 020 8008 2883
Fax: 020 8008 2398

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Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of British Broadcasting Corporation's handling of my FOI request 'Revenue from US and corporation tax paid in US'.

You say "the BBC does not offer an internal review when the information requested is not covered by the Act."

I requested an internal review precisely because I dispute this assertion. Your refusal to allow a review of this on the grounds of your incorrect assertion is Kafkaesque.

I am not intending to seek to influence BBC output: I seek financial information to better understand the BBC's financial structure. This is clearly an area of public interest given that the BBC is largely funded from taxation and yet operates in a commercial space. The FOIA derogations for journalistic integrity are not provided to give the BBC a blanket to erect secrecy around its financial structure. Based on the tone of your response I am reluctantly forced to conclude that you are deliberately evading the requirements under the FOIA to avoid public scrutiny of the BBC.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/re...

I await a speedy response.

Yours faithfully,

Ken Tindell