The government has published its broadcasting white paper, Up Next: the government’s vision for the broadcasting sector. The white paper touches on many different issues from content regulation of streaming services, to BBC funding, the prominence of and obligation on public service broadcasters, and the licensing of local TV stations. However, it is the proposed privatisation … [Read more...]
“Crucial for the future of UK democracy”: The Media Democracy Festival 2022
By Eliz Mizon #MDF22 was an uplifting, thought-provoking, and urgent gathering of some of the UK’s leading media experts and citizens who understand the need to revitalise the media, a system that underpins our ability to understand all others. We kicked off with five days of international livestreamed panels, all of which are now available in a playlist: For the first … [Read more...]
New briefing on the licence fee settlement
This briefing, produced for the UK Media Influence Matrix, provides a summary of the government’s recent proposals for the licence fee, assesses its motivations and consequences, and identifies some potential action points including: Launching a petition declaring the public’s willingness to pay for public service broadcasting and to introduce funding measures that will … [Read more...]
A Media Policy Agenda for 2022
We have just produced a short briefing document that provides an overview of critical debates currently taking place in UK media policy. Each of these issues involves serious policy failures, corporate abuses of power or underlying structural crises that threaten the ability of media organisations to hold powerful groups to account, serve the public interest and support the … [Read more...]
UK Media Influence Matrix Final Report
The Media Reform Coalition, in conjunction with the Centre for Media, Data and Society at Central European University, has just published a comprehensive, 250+ page report evaluating the regulation, governance, funding and ownership of the UK media. It is an essential tool for anyone trying both to understand and to press for changes to the existing UK media landscape. The … [Read more...]
Manifesto for a People’s Media
The 2020s are set to be a decade of huge challenges, and much of the UK's media is unable to support the transformations we need. We urgently need media which is owned by us, accountable to us, where we all get to play a part in creating it: we need to build a media commons. What this could mean is explored in our Manifesto for a People's Media, published as part of the MRC's … [Read more...]
Technology, Public Sphere & Journalism – final chapter of UK Media Influence Matrix project
Global tech giants and British media players are fighting tooth and nail to access market resources. The result of this struggle will make or break journalism in the UK. This is the conclusion of 'Technology, public sphere and journalism' - the final chapter of the UK Media Influence Matrix report written by Leo Watkins. Technology companies have witnessed in the last … [Read more...]