Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom (CPBF)
for diverse, democratic and accountable media
As we said to the Morning Star: In the run up to this important vote dozens of remarkably similar editorials in the local and national press made very spurious claims about how Leveson 2 and the implementation of Section 40 would somehow gag and bankrupt them. These accounts all fail to mention one very important fact: both the cross-party Department for Cultue Media and Sport … [Read more...]
Parliament LiveThe government decisions to ditch the resumption of the Leveson Inquiry, and to repeal the unused law to encourage the media to go to arbitration to settle complaints, are no surprise, but they are based on lies. Culture secretary Matt Hancock said that he took the measures to protect press freedom, on the grounds that both further investigation by Leveson, and the new law … [Read more...]
IAB UKThe 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...]
IMPRESSThe 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...]
Infamous The Truth front page of The Sun published when now suspended Kelvin MacKenzie was still editor of the paper. Fair use.Kelvin MacKenzie has been suspended from The Sun on the eve of the anniversary of 96 deaths at Hillsborough, making CPBF's Granville Williams' "Truth lies and a 28-year search for justice" for the latest edition of ColdType more pertinent than ever. Before we share Granville's article (below), here is a snippet of the article that led to Kelvin MacKenzie's … [Read more...]
Ofcom logoby Roger Darlington (for BECTU's Journal 'Stage Screen and Radio') Something really interesting happened towards the end of the Parliamentary passage of what is now the Communications Act 2003 [click here] that merged five regulators into a new Office of Communications or Ofcom. The House of Lords successfully forced an amendment to broaden Ofcom’s duties. The original … [Read more...]
LAWARNby CFOI news release A new legal block on the disclosure of information about NHS safety investigations will fuel public suspicion of cover-ups and protect poor quality inquiries from scrutiny, says the Campaign for Freedom of Information. The Department of Health has proposed new arrangements for investigating serious hospital safety incidents. The aim is to encourage … [Read more...]
Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Imagesby The Guardian Gordon Brown has demanded that Rupert Murdoch’s takeover of the Sky satellite business be delayed until the government carries out the second part of the Leveson inquiry into press malpractice. In a letter to the culture secretary, Karen Bradley, the former prime minister said the bid by Murdoch-controlled 21st Century Fox for Sky made the “promised but … [Read more...]