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JOWELL ANNOUNCES CONSULTATION PAPER ON MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2-4 Cockspur Street, London SW1Y 5DH
274/0122 October 2001
The Government will publish next month a consultation asking for views on how best to regulate media ownership, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said today.The paper will cover the principles behind the need for reform of the rules, and set out some options for change. It will be published jointly with DCMS and DTI, and two months will be allowed for comment. The consultation will inform the provisions in the forthcoming Communications Bill, due to be published next year.
Issues to be covered by the paper will include:
• What limits should be set on ownership of the ITV news provider?
• What reform is needed of the special newspaper regime of the Fair Trading Act?
• Is there scope for religious ownership of broadcasters?
• Which powers should be given to an independent regulator, and which to the Secretary of State?
• What approach should we take to cross media ownership?
• How can we best ensure the system can respond to a fast changing technological and market environment?
In a speech to the Society of Editors in Belfast, Ms Jowell set out why the public interest required limits on media ownership, and the need to balance that with the economic health of the media sector.
Ms Jowell said: “People are reading newspapers on the internet. Before long, they will be watching TV on their mobile phones. There will be new and exciting opportunities for competition, and we are determined that British companies should be able to take advantage. It may require a different approach to regulation in new markets.And it means that the legislation we introduce will have to stand the test of time in a rapidly changing market.
“But it is as important to preserve the responsibility of the media, and its independence, as it is to build a competitive market. Democracy depends on a culture of dissent and argument, and on sufficient sources of impartial news. So Governments would be rightly concerned about the dangers if too much of the media was in too few hands.
“A plurality of media owners is important for a number of reasons.It contains the influence that those owners have over the political process.It ensures a plurality of new providers, maintaining the culture of dissent and debate that , in a democracy, allows us to shape our national identity, and limiting the control that may one proprietor or corporation has over the news agenda.A single source, however well intentioned, could never provide the wide range of strands of news and opinion that result form competition between different corporate and individual perspectives, and allow the citizen to develop their own view.
“We have two aims. We need to uphold the interests of our citizens. They must continue to receive a diversity of content from their media. They must also continue to receive that diversity from a plurality of sources.
“But we also want to encourage competition and to make Britain home to the most dynamic and competitive media market in the world. So we will try to be as deregulatory as possible, and intend to allow what market consolidation we can.
“Given all the different models of regulation, and the uncertainty that exists of future technological change, we need to get this right. So Patricia Hewitt and I will shortly publish a consultation paper on media ownership. There will be two months for consultation, followed by further consultation after publication of the draft Communications Bill.
“In devising these rules, we have to strike a balance between economic growth and our nation’’s democratic health. We need both if we are to preserve the unique culture of dissent, debate and public service that is our media.”
Notes to Editors
1. Full copies of the speech are available from the DCMS Press Office and can be found on the DCMS website www.culture.gov.uk
2. The Communications White Paper - A New Future for Communications - published by DCMS and DTI in December 2000, can be found on the following website www.communicationswhitepaper.gov.uk
LINKSwww.culture.gov.uk
www.communicationswhitepaper.gov.uk
Last modified: Tuesday, October 23, 2001
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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.
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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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Previous stories
Government Policy
12 November - Communications revolution: who benefits? Nottingham.
30 October - Communications revolution: who benefits? Bath.
30 October - Communications revolution: who benefits? Preston
Public service broadcasting on the brink
The Communications Revolution : Who Benefits? (CPBF Pamphlet)
Response to the Communications White Paper - February 2001
Additional Submission to the Communications White Paper Reform Team - November 2000
Comments for the Communications Reform White Paper - 22 June 2000
