by Natalie Fenton, chair of the Media Reform Coalition The mediation of messages plays a key part in the outcome of most elections and the United Kingdom's December 12 general election was no exception. Incumbent Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party took the single strapline "Get Brexit Done" and repeated it endlessly. The slogan was … [Read more...]
Election campaign reveals a media system that’s not fit for purpose
MRC asked some leading advocates of media reform for their reaction to the result of the general election. Angela Phillips: The media and the polls Outrage about the bias of the media has been a constant over many years of elections but the past four years allow us to make a fairly direct comparison between events. The main thing that has changed is not the … [Read more...]
Reflections on the election from a journalism student
by Clara Hill There are many things that attracted me to pursue a career in journalism. Mainly, that I might as well monetise my irritating love of 24 hour news I inherited from my father. In some ways, this is an unfortunate ambition because it is no secret that the British media is largely biased towards the right. From my point of view, it is unclear whether this … [Read more...]
Election 2019 manifesto pledges on media reform: what’s in and what’s not
by Natalie Fenton The media have been central actors in this General Election campaign. Research by Loughborough University has shown the dominance of pro-Conservative party and anti-Labour Party coverage in the national press and others have claimed forcefully that the BBC has failed in its duty of impartial reporting. Cries of misrepresentation, under-representation, … [Read more...]
Where’s the impartiality? #GenElec2019
by Justin Schlosberg Time for a review of impartiality rules during elections? It is frequently said that a free media is the cornerstone of a healthy democracy and none more so than during an election period. But democracy is only well served if all political views are given equal prominence and fair interrogation. We know we have a partisan press but during … [Read more...]
What the BBC has to say about the papers
New evidence of BBC bias in its reporting of election newspaper coverage A new report suggests that the BBC is in violation of its Charter, Election Guidelines and the Broadcasting Code in its regular reporting of newspaper coverage on major bulletins and news programmes. The study, produced by a leading statistician in association with the Media Reform Coalition, focused … [Read more...]
A Manifesto for Media Reform
The Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, together with the Media Reform Coalition, have published a manifesto for media reform ahead of the general election on 8 June. Reflecting on who we can turn to to find out the truth about our public affairs, the manifesto tables demands concerning Media ownership Independent and effective self-regulation of the press … [Read more...]