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CPBF's Granville Williams salutes Maurice Frankel
The indefatigable director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, Maurice Frankel, topped the Press Gazette poll to become Person of the Year. Back in 1984 Maurice was approached by Des Wilson to set up a group to campaign for openness in government. But it was only in 1998 that Labour found a place for it in the Queen’s Speech.I still have a card, which Maurice was giving out at, I think, the 1998 Labour party conference. It pointed out that freedom of information featured in Labour’s election manifestos of 1974, 1979, 1983, 1987, 1992 and 1997. He comments that ‘no other policy has been consistently promised over 25 years. This is a frustrating and damaging delay’.
Maurice has worked energetically between the time the act was passed in 2000, until its implementation. He played an important role in the announcement by Lord Falconer in October 2004 that charges for freedom of information requests would not be prohibitively expensive.
It is very appropriate that the journalists’ trade journal recognises Maurice’s efforts. Let us hope journalists now use the act.
Last modified: Monday, March 14, 2005
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Lobbying, FoI and News International
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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.
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