"Whether the power's being wielded by the state or a multi-national corporation, media freedom can hang on a very thin thread indeed," said Michelle Stanistreet, General Secretary of the NUJ, at our Rally for Media Reform, calling for a market share cap to be set at 25% and a public interest test to be introduced whenever any market share reaches 15%. Watch her speech in … [Read more...]
Our Media, Not Theirs: report from the Media Reform rally, 17 June
This post is reproduced, with kind permission, from the website of the National Union of Journalists. It does not represent our views, but does offer a fair summary of the rally that night. As the explosive events in Turkey played out on news networks and Twitter around the world, and protesters were being attacked in Taksim Square by the police, the Turkish national news … [Read more...]
Free workshops on making community-owned media work
This is a guest post by Dave Boyle, a experienced community organiser who is trying to revitalise local media from the bottom up. He believes that community ownership of local media groups can make them both profitable and accountable. We think his project is greatly welcome in these pessimistic times and we want to give it a platform. Media Reform has talked about the … [Read more...]
Our media – not theirs! Rally for media reform, June 17th
7pm, University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, London W1 (closest tube Oxford Circus) The last year has given us an unprecedented understanding of the power of the owners and editors of the British press. The Leveson Inquiry showed that a handful of people have the power to destroy lives, make deals with Prime Ministers, collude with corrupt police - and to label anyone … [Read more...]
Leveson makes way for PCC Mark II
Well, well, well... Who would have thought it. It's back to the bad old days as 2013 kicks off with some gentle back-slapping from the Press Complaints Commission. In their annual 'self-satisfaction' survey, the PCC claim that 86% (of those who gave an opinion) said their staff were either very helpful, helpful or satisfactory (goodness me!); 79% of those who provided an … [Read more...]
Conference: Media policy post-Leveson
On Friday 8 February at Bournemouth University will host a one day conference entitled: 'Media policy post-Leveson: opportunities for reshaping media ownership and control at the national, regional and community level'. … [Read more...]
The day after Leveson: ethics and the ‘raucous’ press
Do we need a whisteblowing hotline for journalists? How can we protect the idealism of young journalists from the economic pressure of the newsroom? What does 'raucous' really mean? Media Reform's Maire Messenger Davies, Professor of Media Studies at the University of Ulster, gives her view on the Leveson Report - written the day after. ‘The buzzword is betrayal’ Well, the … [Read more...]