by Benedetta Brevini As a journalist, scholar and media reformer, I have been following the activities of WikiLeaks for over a decade, assessing the disrupting force of new radical platforms for disclosure. WikiLeaks is a crucial example of a digital platform that exposes the contradictions of the internet as a tool for openness and secrecy, freedom and surveillance, free … [Read more...]
Media Reform Coalition: Campaign Co-ordinator for Future of Public Media Project
This position is with the Media Reform Coalition (MRC) that is housed within Goldsmiths Leverhulme Media Research Centre in the Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. Reporting to the Chair of the Media Reform Coalition (Professor Natalie Fenton), the role holder will be expected to lead in the co-ordination of a … [Read more...]
Decriminalising TV licence fee evasion will cut BBC funding without helping the poorest
by Leo Watkins On 9 December last year, mere days before the General Election, Boris Johnson was having a bad news day. He was televised in the morning trying to avoid being confronted by a reporter’s evidence of a young boy sleeping on the floor of an NHS hospital (with the insinuation being that he was being denied proper medical care). Later in the day, his health … [Read more...]
TV Craft Awards: lifting the lid on structural racism
By a member of BECTU “Did no-one look around and stop and ask: ‘why are we so white?’” In part of David Olusoga’s welcome and powerful MacTaggart Lecture he referred to the stark division between the 2020 BAFTA Television Awards and their companion, the Craft Awards. “The Television Awards for 2020 recognised our many successful diverse actors and presenters. … [Read more...]
A FREE & REGULATED PRESS: THE CASE FOR COMPULSORY PRESS REGULATION
by Paul Wragg, School of Law, University of Leeds and co-host of @medialawpodcast In a newly published book, A Free and Regulated Press, I ask: why are newspapers not regulated on a compulsory basis, as broadcasters are? There are several pragmatic reasons, of course, but what, if any, are the principled reasons? Back in 2011/12, Lord Justice Leveson, … [Read more...]
Media, Race and Religion: Silences and Scapegoats
Watch the video of a crucial discussion with Maya Goodfellow, Omega Douglas, Rizwana Hamid and Narzanin Massoumi … [Read more...]
Media Democracy Festival 2020 moves online – watch it now!
The 2020 Media Democracy Festival was cancelled because of the pandemic. Instead, in June 2020, we hosted 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 are now available to view on our YouTube channel. Our first event was on 'Zombie Economics, Post Covid-19 and the media' … [Read more...]