Hi everyone, Eliz Mizon here with the Media Reform Coalition blog. For even more media news and analysis, the latest media reform campaigns, and relevant content from around the web, follow me at Chompsky: Power and Pop Culture. For now, here's your media news digest: Support the Leveson Defence Fund! Our friends at HackedOff have launched a campaign in … [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...]
MRC submission to ‘Future of Public Service Broadcasting’ inquiry
Immediately after the outbreak of the pandemic, the Culture Select Committee launched an inquiry into the funding, regulation and remit of public service broadcasting. Given recent attacks on the BBC in particular by senior members of the government, including the prime minister, MRC believes it is vital both to defend the principle of public media but also to emphasise, once … [Read more...]
Zombie economics, post Covid-19 and the media video
You can watch a full recording of our first Media Democracy Festival lunchtime debate involving Grace Blakeley, Noni Makuyana and Mike Berry on our YouTube channel here. The event was first streamed on Wednesday 3 June 2020. … [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...]
Coronavirus has strengthened the case for the BBC
Our second article on the impact of Coronavirus on media policy debate features a contribution from Professor Jonathan Hardy who argues that the need for the "collective provision of information and creative communications as a public service" - as epitomised by the BBC - has been strengthened by Covid-19. His article comes days before the deadline for the government's … [Read more...]
Democratise the BBC!
by Des Freedman With the resignation of Tony Hall as director general, there is talk of an ‘existential crisis’ at the BBC. The corporation is facing yet more budget cuts and the further centralisation of commissioning. Hall’s departure follows Boris Johnson’s threat to boycott the Today programme and Samira Ahmed’s … [Read more...]