The Media Reform Coalition have written about why the Leveson Inquiry must be allowed to finish its work. They conclude that: If we never get to the bottom of the webs of institutional corruption that have persisted for decades between elements of the press, police and politicians, then the real problem is a systemic failure of justice and accountability. That is why the … [Read more...]
High Court upholds the status of IMPRESS
The CPBF welcomes today's judgement (.pdf) from the High Court to uphold the status of IMPRESS as the first self-regulatory body for the press in UK history to be externally recognised as independent and effective. https://twitter.com/impressproject/status/918420355567509504 As IMPRESS write: At a meeting held in public on 25 October 2016, and following a nine-month … [Read more...]
UPDATE: Bradley refers Fox/ Sky bid on both plurality and commitment to broadcasting standards
UPDATE: Karen Bradley has today (14 Sept 2017) confirmed that she is referring "the merger to the CMA for a Phase 2 investigation on media plurality and genuine commitment to broadcasting standards grounds". Good news re our campaign to #StopMurdoch's latest power grab: Culture Secretary Karen Bradley has referred Murdoch's Fox/ Sky bid to the Competition and Markets … [Read more...]
Their own worst enemy
DESPERATE MEASURES are being taken by the Murdoch media companies to shore up the bid to buy up Sky TV. Culture secretary Karen Bradley was expected to announce that she will refer the bid to the Competition and Markets Authority as Free Press went to the printer. In July she said she was “minded” to do so after a report from the media regulator Ofcom that it would hand the … [Read more...]
The BBC Failed Its Duty To Promote Multiculturalism
By snubbing the Welsh language, the BBC laid bare its true biases, writes MEIC BIRTWISTLE A BBC programme caused a storm of protest in Wales last Wednesday and particularly over in a field in Anglesey, where the country’s national Eisteddfod was taking place. The Welsh Language — Help or Hindrance to the Nation? was the title of a segment on the BBC’s current affairs show … [Read more...]
Help #StopMurdoch’s bid for Sky: sign these petitions, email your MP, complain to Ofcom
Would you like Murdoch to have even more power and influence over UK media and politics? No? Here are three things to do right now: Sign these petitions: Hacked Off petition to "demand Leveson part two before the Murdochs' bid can go ahead": https://hackinginquiry.eaction.org.uk/lobby/skybid 38 Degrees petition asking Karen Bradley to refer the Fox Sky … [Read more...]
Will Karen Bradley Refer SKY-FOX to the Competition and Markets Authority?
by Damian Tambini It’s the Politics, Stupid I am in Italy so I am going to make Machiavellian assumptions. When it comes to media mergers, like Machiavelli’s Prince, politicians act on the basis of moral considerations or the ‘public interest’ only to the extent that failing to do so entails political cost. Machiavelli’s advice would be that the Prince, to strengthen … [Read more...]
Urgent media reform organising meeting
Thanks to all those who joined CPBF's public debate last Saturday on how to create a movement for a #BetterMedia in the UK (see the quick Storify just published here) This is just a quick reminder that today at 4pm our partners at the Media Reform Coalition are having an urgent media reform organising meeting. The meeting will take place at 4pm in the Keynes Library, 43 … [Read more...]
Karen Bradley ‘minded to’ refer Fox/ Sky bid to CMA on media plurality grounds only
Plurality In a statement outlining her decision on the proposed takeover of Sky plc by 21st Century Fox, Inc., Secretary of State for Culture Karen Bradley announced this morning that she is "minded-to refer to a Phase 2 investigation on the grounds of media plurality". You can watch the full video of the statement here. An invitation for representations (deadline 14 … [Read more...]
Creating a movement for Better Media in the UK
The Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom (CPBF) are hosting a public debate on Creating a movement for a Better Media in the UK after the formal business of our AGM on Saturday 1 July 2017. RSVP on Eventbrite. To get the discussion going we'll be joined by three great speakers working at the forefront of this burgeoning movement: Hazel Healy from New … [Read more...]