http://www.cpbf.org.uk Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom News Feed en-us Copyright 2008, CPBF gherman@KeywordsAssociates.com webmaster@cpbf.org.uk http://www.cpbf.org.uk/images/cpbflogo.gif http://www.cpbf.org.uk/ 88 31 News Feed from the CPBF http://www.cpbf.org.uk/body.php?id=2300 DATELINE:andnbsp;6/2/10 andnbsp;A leading lawyer has called this week for independent regulation of the press, and for andquot;all credible media organisationsandquot; to withdraw from the andquot;farcicalandquot; Press Complaints Commission. Sir Ken Macdonald, visiting professor of law at the LSE and the former director of public prosecutions, told an audience of editors and lawyers: andquot;The press may think the PCC works, but they are living in a dream world. Nobody else does.andquot; http://www.cpbf.org.uk/body.php?id=2299 DATELINE:andnbsp;5/2/10 A conference organised by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) at the European Parliament has demanded fresh action from European political leaders to confront the media crisis that is overwhelming journalism. http://www.cpbf.org.uk/body.php?id=2298 DATELINE:andnbsp;2/2/10 WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website that allows people to publish uncensored information anonymously, has suspended operations owing to financial problems. Its running costs including staff payments are $600,000 (andpound;377,000), but so far this year it has raised just $130,000 (andpound;81,000). WikiLeaks has established a reputation for publishing information that traditional media cannot. The website claims to be non-profit and relies on donations. http://www.cpbf.org.uk/body.php?id=2297 DATELINE:andnbsp;2/2/10 The Communication Workers Union is appalled at Tory plans to break up BT and use part of the licence fee to fund superfast broadband. The Tories have made comments showing they believe that adopting market based solutions can make the UK the first major European country to have internet speeds of up to 100Mbps. They have said they are willing to end BTand#39;s andquot;local loop monopolyandquot; and allow rival operators to move in with their own ducts and fibre cables as countries such as Singapore and South Korea have done. They have also said that private investors being allowed to pay for better cabling would encourage competition, and that if the market failed to deliver, then 3.5% of the licence fee currently used to pay for digital switchover could be diverted to pay for broadband expansion http://www.cpbf.org.uk/body.php?id=2296 DATELINE:andnbsp;2/2/10 The BBC decision to commission research into its portrayal of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people is a welcome, if somewhat belated, initiative. It comes in response to two decades of sustained andndash; and often ignored andndash; criticism of the BBC by LGB licence payers, journalists, campaigners and media analysts, writes Peter Tatchell. http://www.cpbf.org.uk/body.php?id=2295 DATELINE:andnbsp;1/2/10 A new report by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on press freedom in China highlights the battle by local censors to control media commentary on a wide range of topics throughout in 2009. Banned topics range from events associated with social unrest and public protests against authorities, to reports of photos of an actress topless on a Caribbean beach. http://www.cpbf.org.uk/body.php?id=2294 DATELINE:andnbsp;27/1/10 andnbsp;Justice Secretary Jack Straw has set up a working group of senior journalists and figures from the legal profession to consider changes to the laws on libel. The group, which includes Sunday Times editor John Witherow alongside executives from law firms Cater-Ruck andandnbsp; Shillings, will examine the possibility that current libel laws are having a andquot;chilling effectandquot; on freedom of expression, Straw said today. http://www.cpbf.org.uk/body.php?id=2293 DATELINE:andnbsp;26/1/10 andnbsp;The CPBF has made the following submission to the Press Complains Commission on 23 January. The Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom is an independent organisation which campaigns for greater diversity and accountability in the media. We have intervened on a range of important policy issues in media and communications since our foundation in 1979. We have a longstanding interest in the issue of media regulation in general, and press regulation in particular. http://www.cpbf.org.uk/body.php?id=2292 DATELINE:andnbsp;21/1/10 The pay-TV group BSkyB has been ordered to reduce its stake in rival ITV by the UKand#39;s Court of Appeal. BSkyB lost its appeal to keep the 17.9% share and was told to reduce it to below 7.5%. It bought the stake for andpound;940m in 2006, effectively blocking NTL, now Virgin Media, from buying ITV. The Competition Commission had already ruled that Skyand#39;s stake gave it undue influence in the UK media and was not in the public interest. andnbsp;