After more than 12 weeks deliberation, Ofcom have this week announced that they will not be investigating the BBC's controversial Panorama edition on antisemitism in the Labour Party. Broadcast five months ahead of last December's general election, the programme was the third Panorama edition in four … Continue Reading
Election campaign reveals a media system that’s not fit for purpose
MRC asked some leading advocates of media reform for their reaction to the result of the general election. Angela Phillips: The media and the … Continue Reading
New Report: Who Owns the UK Media?
We produced our first comprehensive report on media ownership in the UK back in 2015 when we argued concentrated ownership was a significant … Continue Reading
Public interest solutions to data abuses
by Angela Phillips and Eleonora Mazzoli This is the first of our posts for 2020 in which Prof Angela Phillips and Eleonora Mazzoli reflect on … Continue Reading
How the media helped Boris Johnson win the election
by Natalie Fenton, chair of the Media Reform Coalition The mediation of messages plays a key part in the outcome of most elections and the … Continue Reading
Reflections on the election from a journalism student
by Clara Hill There are many things that attracted me to pursue a career in journalism. Mainly, that I might as well monetise my irritating love of 24 hour news I inherited from my father. In some ways, … Continue Reading
Election 2019 manifesto pledges on media reform: what’s in and what’s not
by Natalie Fenton The media have been central actors in this General Election campaign. Research by Loughborough University has shown the dominance of pro-Conservative party and anti-Labour Party coverage in the … Continue Reading
Where’s the impartiality? #GenElec2019
by Justin Schlosberg Time for a review of impartiality rules during elections? It is frequently said that a free media is the cornerstone of a healthy democracy and none more so than during an election period. … Continue Reading
BBC Panorama on anti-semitism: a catalogue of reporting failures
The BBC transmitted an edition of Panorama on 10 July called ‘Is Labour Anti-Semitic?’, presented by John Ware. It contained allegations that senior Labour figures close to Jeremy Corbyn had interfered with the … Continue Reading
MRC submission to online harms white paper
Earlier this year, the government published its white paper outlining plans for a new regulatory approach to tackling "illegal and harmful content and activity online". In particular, it discusses the threat to "our … Continue Reading
A model motion for media reform
This meeting/branch/conference/ believes that: our current media suffer from concentration of media ownership, lack of accountability, lack of independence from government and from commercial pressures and do not … Continue Reading
Unmasked: Andrew Norfolk, the Times and anti-Muslim reporting – a case to answer
A detailed study out today finds that three times in 15 months the chief investigative reporter of the Times, Andrew Norfolk, published sensational series of front-page articles portraying Muslims as threatening – … Continue Reading
BBC delivers government policy as it scraps free licence fee concession for most over-75s
The BBC has today taken a decision that effectively positions it as an outpost of the Department for Work and Pensions. By agreeing to take away free licences for the vast majority of the over- 75s, the Corporation … Continue Reading