Last weekend the Media Reform Coalition welcomed former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell to deliver the keynote at the annual Media Democracy Festival in London. Below are the opening remarks from our chair Tom Mills welcoming John and kicking off the festival. Our huge thanks to John for joining us and for everyone who participated in the event. Hello everyone and … [Read more...]
Newsquest’s acquisition of Archant – bad news for local journalism
Most local newspapers in the UK are owned by a small handful of companies – and this concentration has just got worse. On March 18, Newsquest announced it was buying out Archant, and will be taking over its 74 local news titles. In light of these developments, MRC have updated the ownership figures from our 2021 report 'Who owns the UK media?' Headline findings are: … [Read more...]
Petition for a People’s BBC
The Media Reform Coalition has launched a petition for a People's BBC - sign here! The BBC is under attack. A decade of funding cuts, increasing government interference and commercial pressures are making it less and less able fulfil its public mission. We urgently need a BBC that can hold the powerful to account, and that can help a divided nation understand each … [Read more...]
The Media Democracy Festival ’22 has started – don’t miss out!
Our free yearly Media Democracy Festival has already started, but there’s still plenty of opportunities to get involved and watch important discussions on a wide range of topics! The Media Democracy Festival kicked off on Monday 21st March with Framing the Climate Emergency, which was an interesting look at how the media has been reacting to the climate emergency. Click here … [Read more...]
MRC submission to House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee inquiry on BBC Future Funding
The House of Lords Communications Committee set up an inquiry on BBC funding earlier this year. This is a summary of the MRC submission which you can read in full here. The future broadcasting landscape is likely to see a continuation of the trends of the past decade, which together pose major challenges for the media and communications ecology as a whole. However, … [Read more...]
MRC Weekly Digest – 18th Feb 2022
Hi everyone, Eliz Mizon here with the Media Reform Coalition blog every week. For even more media news and analysis, the latest media reform campaigns, and intriguing content from around the web, follow me at Chompsky: Power and Pop Culture. For now, here's your media news digest. New Nationwide Environmental Campaign Launched: Just Stop Oil A new campaign group … [Read more...]
MRC Weekly Digest – 4th Feb 2022
Hi everyone, Eliz Mizon here with the Media Reform Coalition blog every Friday. For even more media news and analysis, the latest media reform campaigns, and intriguing content from around the web, follow me at Chompsky: Power and Pop Culture. For now, here's your media news digest. NYT Tech Staff Use ‘Slack Hack’ to Fight Union Busting Voting has opened for New York … [Read more...]