Media ownership and the news

alexhilton Fri Jul 13, 2007 at 03:57:46 PM GMT Print-friendly version Facebook

Quite out of the blue, I have been asked (as a prominent blogger!) to give oral evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications.

The committee is investigating media ownership and the news and I'd be grateful for your thoughts on the points below that have been sent to me.




Media ownership and the news

The House of Lords Select Committee on Communications is embarking on a major new inquiry into media ownership and the news.

This will be a two part inquiry. For the first part of the inquiry the Committee is calling for evidence on changes in how people access the news, changes in the way news is provided, changes in news agendas and how concentrated media ownership affects the balance and diversity of news in a democracy.

For the first part of the inquiry the Committee would particularly welcome evidence on:  

   1. How and why have the agendas of news providers changed? How has the content of news programmes and newspapers altered over the years?

   2. How is the way that people access the news changing? The Committee is interested in national and regional trends and figures for television, radio, newspaper and on-line news consumption.

   3. How has the process of news gathering changed? The Committee is interested in the process of news production, the prioritisation of budgets and the deployment of journalistic resources.

   4. What is the impact of the concentration of media ownership on the balance and diversity of opinion seen in the news? Does ownership have an impact on editorial priorities and on news values such as fairness, accuracy and impartiality?

   5. How should the public interest be protected and defined in terms of news provision? Are the public interest considerations set down for Ofcom in the Communications Act 2003 enough to ensure a plurality of debating voices in the UK news media?

Later in the year the Committee will review the evidence received and will then issue a separate call for evidence focusing on the concentration of media ownership, on cross-media ownership and on the regulation of media ownership. The Committee does not yet want to receive evidence on these points.


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Media ownership and the news | 3 comments (3 topical)

Re: Media ownership and the news (#1)

by swatantra on Sat Jul 14, 2007 at 10:02:18 AM GMT

Congratulations Alex. Its probably the nearest you'll get to Westminster, but its a start. Try local politics in the meantime.


1 The 24 hr wall to wall coverage has meant that all newspappers have gone downmarket, just to maintain circulation. More info doesn't necessarily mean better.


2 News is becoming more accessible, at your convenience, but a lot of it is padding and entertainment. the serious stuff eg terrorism has been blown out of proportion, purely to entertain and keep the audiance.

events are geared to the news and its the media that is guilty of creating the news.




Re: Media ownership and the news (#2)

by swatantra on Sat Jul 14, 2007 at 10:13:30 AM GMT

3 The media in order to fill time is relying ever more on the citizen journalist to provide the news, instead of its own reporters.


4 Right wing press moguls have always been in control of the media., and always will be, because they dumb down to make profits. The left always occupy the moral ground but it does them no good when it comes to publications. thats why its not wise for govts to keep attacking the BBC; its the nearest we'll get to impartiallity.


5 Unfortunately we can't turn the clock back and put tighter controls on the commercial sector. All boards of ITV etc should have 'consumer representatives ' sitting on them.



Re: Media ownership and the news (#3)

by Jag Singh on Sat Jul 14, 2007 at 03:55:27 PM GMT

"Its probably the nearest you'll get to Westminster, but its a start. Try local politics in the meantime."

Haha! I love that line!


Media ownership and the news | 3 comments (3 topical)