Press freedom is once again in peril, according to right-wing newspapers. As part of a mass offensive recalling the heady days of reaction to the Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practices, and ethics of the British press following the phone-hacking scandal, an editorial in the Mail on 28 November boomed that freedom of the press is a “democratic necessity” and among the “precious institutions and freedom which must not be compromised at any price” – while Charles Moore warned in the Telegraph on 24 November that “the nationalisation of a British national newspaper seems possible”. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Tag: Media Plurality (Page 1 of 3)
The Media Reform Coalition produced its first comprehensive report on media ownership in the UK back in 2015 when it argued concentrated ownership was a significant problem for any modern democracy. Continue reading
From the mid-20th century, there has been substantial international support for plurality of media ownership. Policies designed to limit the number of media outlets owned or controlled by one proprietor have been seen as a precondition for achieving a diverse range of viewpoints. Continue reading
Figures in a new poll reveal that there is overwhelming public support for action to confront the unaccountable power of media proprietors in the UK. 74 per cent believe that, in order to own a UK newspaper, radio station or TV channel, companies should be based in the UK and pay full UK tax while 61 per cent are in favour of compulsory rules (such as independent editorial boards) in order to limit the influence of owners over editorial output. Continue reading
How might Facebook, Google and other intermediaries influence the outcome of the 2015 UK election? Are they displacing newspapers and TV as kingmakers? As Robin Foster noted, and data from the Oxford Reuters Institute illustrates, there is ample evidence that social media are rapidly rising as a source of news, posing deep questions about the automated, pseudo-editorial processes that increasingly determine the flow of news not only during elections but between them as well. Continue reading
The new report, written by Rachael Craufurd Smith and Yolande Stolte, presents the results of a project byAccess Info Europe and the Open Society Program on Independent Journalism that surveyed of media ownership transparency rules in 20 EU and neighbouring countries in 2012. Continue reading
Those HR people in the Culture Department are a hard-nosed bunch. Instead of letting civil servants working on the media ownership brief have a well-deserved rest in Tuscany, they keep them at their desks in the hottest months of the year publishing policy statements when the sun is shining. Continue reading
If one week is a long time in politics, three years are an eternity. Remember those heady days in July 2011, as the phone-hacking scandal broke and unanimous condemnation from our political leaders’ reflected public revulsion? Continue reading
Press Freedom goes beyond ensuring that any regulatory framework is completely independent of Government (and of course the Leveson proposals fully meet that requirement). It is also about protecting the media market from monopolistic control. Continue reading
Rupert Murdoch’s latest bid for empire expansion has fallen on deaf ears. His offer to buy Time Warner for US$80 billion was resoundingly rejected by the owners of CNN, HBO and Warner Brothers. But despite the setback, Murdoch’s apparent willingness to sell off CNN to satisfy regulators (should a bid be accepted by Time Warner) reveals something significant about how he values news assets. Continue reading
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