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Report of Work 2005
DATELINE: 3/10/06
A little bit delayed - but the Report of Work for last year (presented to our AGM) has at last been uploaded to the site. It includes a report of our work around Charter renewal, the report of our conference on public service broadcasting, and details of our involvmenet with the Press Complaints Commission. Read it here.
Our priorities in 2005 centred on the preparation and production of the 2005 Media Manifesto launched before the General Election in May. We also continued work begun in 2004, around the Renewal of the BBC Charter.
Our Media Manifesto (reported to the last AGM) brought together the wide ranging policy concerns of the Campaign and was a review and update of the last manifesto published before the 1997 general election. It represents a statement of policy aims for the life of the present parliament. It was distributed to our supporters through Free Press and in bulk to the media unions NUJ and Bectu. It was also distributed electronically to our media contacts and at meetings and conferences where the Campaign was present.
The bulk of our work in 2005 and into 2006 related to campaigning around the issues of public service broadcasting in general and the renewal of the BBC’s Charter in particular. As reported to last year’s AGM, the Campaign (through its PSB/BBC Charter Review Group and conference organiser Kathy Lowe) organised a conference on the future of public serviced broadcasting in March 2005. This was timely, coming only days after the delayed publication of the DCMS green paper on Charter Renewal and with the increasing concerns about the cuts backs by the merged ITV in its regional production and public service obligations. We were also fortunate to have DCMS heritage and broadcasting minister Lord Andrew McIntosh of Haringey as a guest speaker, who outlined the main provisions of the Green Paper. Shortly after, the Campaign submitted its response to the paper (which was also placed on our web site and sent to our CharterNet supporters via the web site (see later report). We submitted evidence to Ofcom on their review of public service broadcasting and issued a statement in support of the NUJ and Bectu submissions to Ofcom on the ‘nations and regions’ consultation. We also submitted evidence to the House of Lords select committee on broadcasting on the BBC. In September we produced and widely distributed an updated version of our pamphlet ‘Keeping Broadcasting Public: The BBC and the 2006 Charter Review’ by CPBF national council member Tom O’Malley.
Against the background of Charter Renewal the media unions were also fighting increasingly tough battles against redundancies and privatisation, which had been announced by the BBC management towards the end of 2004. It was becoming increasingly clear that the BBC was aiming to follow the pattern already established in public sector in services like education, health and the local government services with the increasing use of outsourcing and privatisation. In response the media unions took strike action against the proposed job losses on 23 May 2005 which apart from showing solid support for the action from Baghdad to Birmingham, sent a clear message to BBC management that they would have to enter into serious negotiations with the unions over their plans.
In the late summer the BBC Charter Review Group met to draw up proposals for a conference on the White paper on Charter Renewal expected at the end of the year. Building on the 5 March conference it was agreed that the conference needed to reach a wider audience, more especially amongst the media and non-media unions. The TUC and the Federation of Entertainment Unions were approached and agreed to support as a joint venture a conference around the theme ‘Keep Broadcasting Public’. In the event the White Paper was delayed until March 2006 and a review of the conference appears below. The Campaign also started work on a questionnaire on what should be the priorities of the BBC in the coming period, which was distributed in Free Press and place on the web site. The results were announced at the 1 April conference and published on the web site. In addition the Campaign maintained links with Public Voice and the VLV over developments in broadcasting policies including Ofcom, digital switchover, BBC Charter Renewal and the scaling back of public service and regional programming on ITV. We also submitted evidence to Ofcom on their consultation about rules on product placement (also linked to the review of the TV Without Frontiers European Directive) and cross-media promotion.
Keep Broadcasting Public Conference 1 April 2006 - Kathy Lowe writes:
‘The Keep Broadcasting Public conference held on 1 April 2006 at NUJ headquarters attracted nearly 100 participants, mainly trade unionists and academics. The involvement of the TUC and Federation of Entertainment Unions (FEU) in jointly mounting this event with the CPBF gave the conference a strong union imprint, higher public profile and made greater practical and financial support possible.
Full use was made, in promoting the conference, of TUC mailings and website, the NUJ’s database of members in broadcasting and the CPBF’s own website and database. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber opened the conference and a number of leaders of FEU member unions took part as well as CPBF members and contacts.
The conference took place, as intended, early in the consultation period following the publication of the government’s white paper on the new BBC charter. This meant that the conference successfully provided a forum for lobbying the government and the BBC at a crucial point in decision-making about the BBC’s future scope and direction. At the same time it served to underpin the parliamentary lobbying efforts of the individual media unions and the TUC.
The TUC’s involvement in the conference helped to secure as keynote speakers, the then-minister responsible for broadcasting, James Purnell MP, and the BBC Strategy Director Caroline Thomson.
The expertise of media activists and academics at the conference and the presence of John McDonnell MP helped to develop further a critique of how the BBC was being privatised by stealth and gave renewed impetus to the public and parliamentary campaign to protect public service broadcasting.
Generous support towards the costs of the conference and/or assistance in kind came from the TUC, FEU, NUJ, UNISON, BECTU, PFA, and NASUWT. All conference costs, including the conference co-ordinator's fee, were covered and there was a surplus of around £500.’
Speeches given at the conference where possible where placed on the CPBF web site within a few days of the event.
As an update ‘new’ DCMS minister Shaun Woodward MP has announced that the details of the licence fee settlement will not be made until later this year. The licence fee has come under a great deal of political pressure in the past year with increasing commercial voices being heard in favour of ‘top slicing’ the BBC licence fee to for instance Channel Four to sustain its PSB remit. However, the idea of a Public Service Publisher first outlined in the green paper, seems to have been quietly put to sleep! Not sleeping is the Murdoch press, which continues its attacks on the BBC and some of their services, which are seen by them as duplication and better provided by the commercial sector.
European Work continued to develop in 2005. Granville sits on the European Federation of Journalists Broadcasting Expert Group which is currently considering the revision of the European Directive ‘Television with Frontiers’ whilst the Campaign is working more closely with European groups campaigning for media reform, over issues of globalisation and ownership and the need for greater transparency in the EU parliament over the rules (or lack of them) governing lobbying and lobbyists. We were also active at the G8 Alternatives Summit when Granville Williams spoke at a ‘resisting neoliberal media’ seminar in Glasgow on 3 July. In September Granville Williams attended the Liverpool Conference organised by the UK Presidency and the European Commission on the revision of the Television Without Frontiers Directive. During 2005 we also met delegations from Korea, India and Slovenia.
At last year’s AGM we reported on our work with Peter Bradley MP on his Right of Reply and Press Standards bill which failed to get its second reading in the Commons before the May 2005 general election. Also during the year we continued to campaign to make the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) accountable under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI). Although the Department for Constitutional Affairs had indicated that there was to be a review of scope of the FOI in relation to its application to ‘private bodies’, further developments are still awaited.
Press coverage following the London bombings on 7 July, the failed bombings of 21 July and the killing of the innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes, were closely monitored by the Campaign and on 2 August we wrote to the PCC about a front-page story of the Express, 27 July 2005 relating to the failed bombing of 21 July. Specifically, we complained that the headline ‘Bombers are all spongeing (sic) asylum seekers’ was inaccurate as, at the time that this was written only two of the suspected bombers was unknown. Furthermore the headline was inaccurate even if it was taken to apply to the two alleged bombers who had been identified at the time of writing, since neither was an asylum seeker. Despite reminders it was only on 15 November that we discovered that the complaint had been rejected. One reason for the rejection given was that that the article’s subjects had not themselves objected to it! The PCC also claimed that ‘the terms of the headline were clarified in the body of the article’, which we strongly dispute. However, in the Campaign’s experience there is little to be gained from arguing with the PCC, so we decided to publicise the PCC’s findings instead. This issue was raised at the 2005 TUC in the debate about the London bombings and the media coverage that followed and we also received coverage in the Telegraph and Press Gazette. The need for effective press regulation and to bring the PCC under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act are major concerns of the Campaign. In December the national council was informed that the proposed spring 2006 NUJ conference on press regulation would not now be going ahead. Since then the NUJ has launched a major nationwide campaign for quality journalism with public meetings and political lobbying. The campaign aims to protect quality journalism and its vital role in our democracy. Any public debate about quality journalism has to address the question of regulation and it is hoped that the union will take up this aspect during 2006.
Although it arose in February 2006, the issues arising from the Danish Cartoons controversy sparked a wide-ranging debate within the Campaign, which was reflected in discussions in the national council, Free Press and on our web site. Co-chair Julian Petley spoke at meeting on the subject at the University of Westminster, and this was also web-cast.
During 2005 the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) launched a consultation on draft proposals to change the current distribution agreements, which ensure that magazines are distributed with newspapers. The proposals drew a hostile response from a wide cross section of the media, and we put in a submission arguing against the draft proposals. The draft proposals could lead to the closure of thousands of small newsagents if supermarket chains get more control over the supply process. One problem is that the OFT has stated publicly that it does not have a responsibility for ‘public interest’. In May 2006 the OFT published a draft opinion on the review which indicated that supermarkets could take over the wholesale distribution of magazines, thus putting a lot of smaller publications and newsagents out of business. The final report from the OFT is due next year.
Concerning the CPBF web site at www.cpbf.org.uk Gary Herman the site manager writes:
Our high point for the site was February this year when our averages were around 60 visits and 80 page impressions a day. Since then we've fallen back to figures closer to last year at around 20 visits/30 page impressions a day with a mini peak in March of 40 visits/50 pages a day. I'm not sure how to account for this (the February peak was probably to do with the Danish cartoons, and March may have been the keep broadcasting public conference, but it's harder to analyse regular variations), but I think one positive is that the site seems to be being used more (i.e. people are looking at more things on it).
We have 239 subscribers to Charternet, and it may be worth trying to get them involved in other CPBF work (if they're not already) after the campaign finishes. It's quite a healthy level of interest.
I've made some small changes to the look of the site (mainly a larger font size - following a request posted to one of the forums). I've also introduced some spam/hacker blocking measures in the forums which (fingers crossed) seem to be working so far (someone actually wrote to us about a spate of 'automatic hacks' which is affecting a large number of other forums and blogs around the world and had affected ours). The forums are not really popular - we have a grand total of 18 contributions including the 'welcome', the most popular areas being public service broadcasting and the cartoons. It's another indication that the site benefits from running material on 'high profile' issues. I'm thinking of including a 'most popular items' list on the home page if I can get round to it.
We also had a request to include a WE STAND FOR statement in a prominent position so I changed one of the JOIN CPBF links on the home page and uploaded the latest 'mission statement' (near top of left column). Other recommendations for inclusions gratefully received.
In general, I'm still eager for more (any!) people to learn how to upload material. I think the site could be a very valuable resource if it had only a little more stuff on it - and that requires more people than just me to add material. As a matter of interest, we have 1182 items in the database (that doesn't include Word or PDF documents). Also, I'd like to see a 'library' of images if we can persuade any friendly photographers, to allow us to use their ‘unplaceable pics’. And - almost finally - I'd like to see online subscriptions implemented soon. After much discussion with the national organiser my feeling is that NoChex are the people to go with. In this connection, do people think it would be worth trying to generate some income from the site by running ads, or is this unacceptable? If we want to do something of this sort, it might be an idea to approach people like the publishers Pluto and other organisations (Liberty, Amnesty) with a view to building a sort of 'affiliate marketing network' for campaigns. Perhaps this thought ought to forward as a proposal for voting on ('AGM agrees to enter discussions with a view to... sort of thing).
Finally, any ideas about how to improve or enhance the site will be welcome.’
Comments on Gary’s suggestions are welcome.
The Campaign was active in organising, supporting or attending a number of activities, meetings and conferences during 2005. These included: Scottish CPBF organising meeting - Glasgow - 8 February; News for Sales Conference - London - 12 March; Local News Campaign meeting - Oxford - 19 March; Brent Trades Council - 23 March; Stall at NUJ Conference - April; World Press Freedom Day meeting - Paddington - 3 May; Free Press Media reform Conference - St Louis USA - 13-15 May; Stall UNISON Conference - Glasgow June; National Pensioners Convention - Blackpool - June; LSE Project on regulation - Autumn; Leeds Humanists Society - November.
It’s been a busy year for the Campaign with much achieved. We have maintained good contacts with other media pressure group, but with the end of the BBC Charter Renewal Campaign we need to give serious thought to future priorities and linking them to fund raising.
Finally, let us not forget that acts of violence, murder and kidnappings against journalists and other media workers are routine and increasing at an alarming rate. The war in Iraq remains the deadliest conflict for journalists in modern history. According to the International Federation of Journalists, more journalists have died covering the conflict than in any war over the last 100 years. At least 129 journalists and media workers have been killed since the invasion, the majority being Iraqis working for local media. We should not forget them.
Last modified: Tuesday, October 3, 2006
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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.
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Previous stories
Miscellany
Give money to Greg Palast
The UK Terror plot: what's really going on?
The war on Palestine's orphans
Interpal accuses Panorama of lack of balance
Free Press index launched
Without Comment
How the US media destroy democracy
John Pilger
It’s Not Cricket
Without Comment
Without Comment
Digital TV and state abuse of power
Beyond TV: everything for the video activist
Without Comment
In the USA today
Spies like us....
Sir Frank Rogers: Obituary
Not so public launch
Indymedia seizure explained - in part
NUJ's new place in the Sun
Without Comment: FA hires from DCMS
Jim’s Journal
Without Comment
Without Comment
Without Comment
Read this...
The G8 Alternatives Summit spotlights the media
Transport police seize Bristol Indymedia server
Without Comment
News for Sale: Information in the Age of Market-Driven Journalism
