» SubscribeMain section
-
Top story
CONCERNS ABOUT ITV ASSET-STRIPPING
WHILE Carlton and Granada await the decision on whether they can merge (since writing, the go ahead has been given), there are fears that US broadcasters are waiting to asset-strip ITV.Writing in the Business Observer on 14 September Jessica Hodgson warns that the US media group Hallmark is sizing up the Channel’s library and production business. Hallmark has confirmed its interest in specific parts of the business rather than buying the entire business. ‘There are some library assets and production assets there that we are interested in,’ a spokesperson told The Observer. Meanwhile other US broadcasters are also lining up for a piece of the action. At the Royal Television Society convention in Cambridge, Haim Saban, the Israeli-American media mogul, said he would launch a bid for ITV if the Competition Commission clears the Carlton and Granada merger on favourable terms. Saban already owns Germany’s second largest commercial broadcaster, ProSiebenSat.1, acquired after the disposal of Leo Kirch’s media assets after his company’s financial failure. Mel Karmazin, President of Viacom, one of the top five global media groups, also said at the convention that his company was interested in the ITV network.
Lord McNally, the Liberal Democratic Peer who strongly criticised proposals for foreign ownership of ITV when the Communications Bill was going through Parliament, says he plans to raise the matter with Lord McIntosh, the Broadcasting Minister.
Last modified: Friday, November 7, 2003
Previous events & announcements stories
END THE OCCUPATION MARCH AND RALLY.
Can the Press Complaints Commission be 'independent, consistent and effective' ?
Freepress 134 On the site
Informed Dissent A CD by undercurrents and Peace News £6.50
Free Press Special issue - Iraq and the Media War
Biased news – do we want it here?
BOOK THE DATE NOW: CPBF AGM
HAPPENING - International Writers Day 2003
COMMUNICATING THE WAR ON TERROR
THINK LONDON: THINK LOCAL - Making better use of the capital's media
VENEZUELA: A YEAR AFTER A POPULAR UPRISING REVERSED THE COUP
Polls show majorities against US ownership of ITV and Murdoch buying Channel 5
-
Notices
Events & Announcements
World Press Freedom Day
More reporters are currently imprisoned in Turkey than in any other country in the world. Only a matter of weeks ago lawyers failed to persuade a Turkish court to release a 76-year-old journalist from a Turkish internet news station.
World Press Freedom Day on Friday May 3, 2013 is being marked in Britain by a rally to highlight the dangers facing journalists in Turkey and in this podcast, Nicholas Jones speaks to Barry White, Organiser at the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, and Sam Bamford, the TUC's policy officer for Eastern Europe and Africa about the importance of a campaign to highlight international press freedom.
The World Press Freedom Day rally is being staged by the National Union of Journalists at the NUJ head office, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 on Thursday May 2, 6pm-8pm.
DATELINE: 27/4/13
UK launch of EU media campaign
DATELINE: 13/3/13
The UK launch of a 'European Citizens' Initiative' calling for EU rules against concentration of media power will take place on Thursday March 21 from 11:00am – 12:30pm in Committee Room 4A at the House of Lords, London. Guest speakers will include actor and activist Hugh Grant (pictured), media consultant Claire Enders, Professor Steven Barnett, Barry McCall (President of the NUJ) and Marc Gruber (Director of the European Federation of Journalists).
A European Citizens' Initiative is an official petition, like a Downing Street petition. If it succeeds in gathering a million signatures across the EU, the Commission is obliged to respond.
This petition calls for the EU to act to protect media pluralism and press freedom.
CPBF Annual General Meeting
DATELINE: 1/3/13
Make a note in your diary
Saturday 13 July 2013 from 10.00am
NUJ HQ, 308/312 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1.
Leveson, media ownership, CPBF future work.
DOWNLOAD FREEPRESS NOW
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Download Freepress in PDF, ePub or mobi format. Issue 194 now available.
MEDIA FOR ALL CONFERENCE
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Papers from the Media for All Conference
MEDIA MANIFESTO
DATELINE: 26/3/10
The media’s job is to inform and entertain us but we rely on them too to tell us what our rulers and representatives are up to. In the run-up to the Iraq war the government used spin and disinformation in the media to create panic and mislead people. The truth is coming out now, but we need stronger, more independent media to be able to scrutinise governments and make informed choices.
-
Previous stories
Events & Announcements
END THE OCCUPATION MARCH AND RALLY.
Can the Press Complaints Commission be 'independent, consistent and effective' ?
Freepress 134 On the site
Informed Dissent A CD by undercurrents and Peace News £6.50
Free Press Special issue - Iraq and the Media War
Biased news – do we want it here?
BOOK THE DATE NOW: CPBF AGM
HAPPENING - International Writers Day 2003
COMMUNICATING THE WAR ON TERROR
THINK LONDON: THINK LOCAL - Making better use of the capital's media
VENEZUELA: A YEAR AFTER A POPULAR UPRISING REVERSED THE COUP
Polls show majorities against US ownership of ITV and Murdoch buying Channel 5
