Media Reform Coalition partnered with Liverpool's Writing on the Wall Festival to host a debate on Tuesday 19 May to discuss the role of the media in the Covid-19 pandemic. Speakers were Kerry-Anne Mendoza (editor at large of The Canary), Tom Mills (author of The BBC: Myth of a Public Service and vice-chair of MRC), and Victor Pickard (author of Democracy without Journalism: … [Read more...]
Media Democracy Festival 2020 – now cancelled
Statement We regret to announce that we will be postponing Saturday’s Media Democracy Festival. In the interests of the welfare of all attendees and the wider public, we have decided to follow a policy of social distancing in response to the coronavirus. We always seek to make our events inclusive and accessible to everyone and it is now clear that this would not have … [Read more...]
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 problem for any modern democracy. In 2019, we produced an updated version that suggests that, not only does concentrated ownership persist but that the problem may be getting worse. This report shows that just three companies (News … [Read more...]
Media Democracy Festival 2020 moves online
The 2020 Media Democracy Festival was cancelled because of the pandemic. We are now hosting a series of short lunchtime sessions on key themes concerning media democracy and social justice in the light of Covid-19 and beyond. All sessions will be streamed on our YouTube channel. Our first event is at 1pm on Wednesday 3 June on 'Zombie Economics, Post Covid-19 and the media' … [Read more...]
Event: Media in Lockdown
6pm, Tuesday 19 May 2020, register here MRC is joining with Liverpool's Writing on the Wall Festival to bring three leading media reform activists together to discuss media failures and successes in covering the pandemic. Kerry-Anne Mendoza is Editor-in-Chief of The Canary. She is known for creating one of the UK’s top independent political blogs Scriptonite Daily, for … [Read more...]
MRC submission to inquiry on the future of journalism
The House of Lords Select Committee on Communications recently called for submissions to its inquiry on the future of journalism. In the context of the Covid-19 crisis - in which we have seen a huge decline in advertising revenue combined with a massive spike in demand for quality news - supporting independent and critical journalism is especially significant. The MRC's … [Read more...]
The fake choice around decriminalising the licence fee
by Des Freedman and Tom Mills A licence fee worth defending? Decriminalising the licence fee may not seem like the highest priority for a government that’s facing economic meltdown and social crisis. Nevertheless, Boris Johnson’s administration has ploughed on with its official consultation on decriminalisation and maintained its commitment to respond to comments by the … [Read more...]
Burning Questions in the Lap of Power
by Gary Merrill Every afternoon, Downing Street hosts a briefing for journalists to update them - and their audiences - on latest developments concerning the Covid-19 crisis. In this special post for MRC, Gary Merrill of the University of Roehampton, argues that the briefings are generating very little heat and certainly no light, mostly because of the reluctance of … [Read more...]
Why are conservative papers leaning left on corona?
by Elizabeth Mizon, @elizmizon MRC supporters may have noticed some robust headlines around Covid-19 in news titles more commonly associated with supporting the government. Elizabeth Mizon reflects on the motivations for a potential shift in approach but warns against thinking that this signals a fundamental transformation of their priorities. ‘The FT View’, The … [Read more...]