The government announced that the scheme to deliver help to assist older and disabled people with the switch to digital television would cost around £600 million, ring-fenced in the forthcoming television licence fee settlement. The help scheme would be free to older and disabled people who received income-related benefits; those who did not would pay a subsidized fee of £40.
Source: Press release 19 December 2006, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (020 7211 6200)
Links: DCMS press release
Date: 2006-Dec
The press complaints watchdog published a revised guidance note on the reporting of mental health issues. It reminded editors of the importance of terminology in reporting, pointing out that people were detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 in 'hospitals' not 'prisons', and were 'patients' not 'prisoners'. The terms 'jail', 'cell' and 'cage' were inaccurate under the terms of the Act when referring to the accommodation of patients. Epithets such as 'nutter' and 'schizo' might breach the code of practice on discrimination against individuals who were mentally ill, and could both result in distress to patients and contribute to a climate of public fear or rejection.
Source: On Reporting Mental Health Issues, Press Complaints Commission (020 7831 0022)
Links: Guidance | PCC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Nov
A government report said that community radio stations had delivered important social gains across a range of issues - particularly in respect of volunteering, work placement, and training opportunities.
Source: The Community Radio Sector: Looking to the Future, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (020 7211 6200)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Nov
A new book examined the policy and regulatory measures relating to the promotion of media diversity in three jurisdictions: the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia.
Source: Lesley Hitchens, Broadcasting Pluralism and Diversity: A comparative study of policy and regulation, Hart Publishing (01865 517530)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Nov
A think-tank report said that the alarmist language used by the media to discuss climate change was tantamount to climate porn - offering a thrilling spectacle but ultimately distancing the public from the problem.
Source: Gill Ereaut and Nat Segnit, Warm Words: How are we telling the climate story and can we tell it better?, Institute for Public Policy Research, available from Central Books (0845 458 9911)
Links: Report | IPPR press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Aug
A think-tank report examined organizational reform at the BBC. It said that the corporation's successes - in terms of winning public trust, and maximizing efficiency and value for money - threw down a challenge to those driving reform in other public services.
Source: Patrick Diamond, Conundrums of Reform: Efficiency, public virtue and the delivery of world-class public services, Policy Network (020 7340 2200)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jul
The government and the BBC concluded a framework agreement for the BBC Charter. The agreement described the public purposes of the BBC; policy on programmes and services; the BBC's role in achieving digital switchover; the commercial services strategy of the BBC in relation to the "core" public services; and the funding of the BBC.
Source: Broadcasting: An Agreement between Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and the British Broadcasting Corporation, Cm 6872, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Framework
Date: 2006-Jul
A report by a committee of peers said that scrutiny of the BBC's "excessive" licence fee bid was totally inadequate. The government had "too much unchecked power" to negotiate the licence fee and to agree the terms of its charter.
Source: Final Discussions with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Third Report (Session 2005-06), HL 196, House of Lords BBC Charter Review Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jun
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the planned switchover from analogue to digital television.
Source: Government Response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, Session 2005-2006: Report on Analogue Switch-Off, Cm 6850, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2006-Jun
A report said that more than half of the top 100 journalists had attended private schools. The proportion who had been privately educated had risen since 1986 from 49 per cent to 54 per cent in 2006.
Source: The Educational Backgrounds of Leading Journalists, Sutton Trust (020 8788 3223)
Links: Report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jun
A report (commissioned by private-sector television companies) said that the licence fee increases sought by the BBC were in excess of its needs, and would be difficult for low-income groups to afford.
Source: Appraising the Proposed BBC Licence Fee Increase, Indepen Consulting Ltd ((020 7324 1800)
Links: Report | Accountancy Age report
Date: 2006-May
The government responded to a report by a committee of peers on the review of the BBC Charter.
Source: Government Response to the Lords Select Committee Report ?Further Issues for BBC Charter Review?, Cm 6787, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | Peers report
Date: 2006-May
The broadcasting regulator reported on the extent of children?s media literacy (the ability to access, understand, and create communications in a variety of contexts). Of children aged 8-11, 35 per cent watched television mostly on their own. 78 per cent of children aged 12?15 felt that news programmes were either always true or true most of the time, whereas 54 per cent said this about current affairs programmes and 33 per cent said it of reality TV programmes.
Source: Media Literacy Audit: Report on media literacy amongst children, Office of Communications (020 7981 3000)
Links: Report | Ofcom press release
Date: 2006-May
An article challenged three "myths" of internet governance: that the market could decide, that the internet was different to 'legacy' media, and that national governance was unimportant.
Source: Richard Collins, 'Internet governance in the UK', Media, Culture & Society, Volume 28 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-May
An independent report was published on the future funding needs of the BBC. It said that the government might be justified in seeking a lower licence fee settlement than the one being sought by the Corporation.
Source: PKF, Review of the BBC Value for Money and Efficiency Programmes, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (020 7211 6200)
Links: Report | DCMS press release | BBC press release
Date: 2006-Apr
The BBC published an independent report on public reaction to the prospect of a licence fee rising to ?150 (in constant prices) in 2013-14. Nearly half of licence-fee payers opposed the government's proposal to use the licence fee to fund targeted help for vulnerable citizens during digital switchover.
Source: Patrick Barwise, The BBC Licence Fee Bid: What does the public think?, British Broadcasting Corporation (020 8576 8888)
Links: Report | BBC press release
Date: 2006-Apr
The broadcasting regulator said that availability, take-up, and usage of internet, telecommunications, and broadcasting services were generally determined by social background and rural or urban differences. Londoners spend the most on communications services: but, as a proportion of disposable income, spending levels in London were among the lowest while those in Northern Ireland and Wales were among the highest.
Source: The Communications Market: Nations and Regions, Office of Communications (020 7981 3000)
Links: Report | Ofcom press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Apr
The broadcasting regulator began consultation on its code on television access services - subtitling, signing, and audio description - designed to help people who cannot hear or see, or have difficulty with hearing or seeing, to enjoy television. It proposed that the existing obligations should continue broadly unchanged, with quotas rising progressively towards the statutory 10-year target of 80 per cent for subtitling, 10 per cent for audio-description, and 5 per cent for signing.
Source: Television Access Services: Review of the code and guidance, Office of Communications (020 7981 3000)
Links: Consultation document | Ofcom press release
Date: 2006-Mar
The broadcasting regulator surveyed the extent of adult media literacy - the ability to access, understand, and create communications in a variety of contexts. Those aged 65 and over had significantly lower levels of media literacy than other age groups.
Source: Media Literacy Audit: Report on adult media literacy, Office of Communications (020 7981 3000)
Links: Report | Ofcom press release
Date: 2006-Mar
An article examined how the National Assembly for Wales provided a vehicle for the exploration of Welsh views on United Kingdom communications legislation over the period 1999-2003.
Source: Leighton Andrews, 'The National Assembly for Wales and broadcasting policy, 1999-2003', Media, Culture & Society, Volume 28 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Mar
A report by a committee of MPs said that elderly people and those with disabilities needed more help with the switch to digital television.
Source: Analogue Switch-off: A signal change in television, Second Report (Session 2005-06), HC 650, House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Mar
The government published a White Paper setting out the future functions, role, and structure of the BBC. The licence fee would remain until 2016, and the board of governors would be replaced by an independent BBC Trust. The BBC should make entertainment a top priority: but it should not merely chase ratings or copy successful shows on other channels.
Source: A Public Service For All: The BBC in the digital age, Cm 6763, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: White Paper | DCMS press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Mar
A think-tank report said that misreporting of scientific research had eroded public confidence in the government and industry; and that past misrepresentation of scientific research had had fatal consequences for the public.
Source: Jacqueline Cassidy (ed.), Science, Risk and the Media: Do the front pages reflect reality?, Social Market Foundation (020 7222 7060)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Mar
A report by a committee of peers criticized the government for asking television licence fee payers to help fund the BBC's switch from analogue to digital television services.
Source: Further Issues for BBC Charter Review, Second Report (Session 2005-06), HL 128, House of Lords BBC Charter Review Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Mar
A study found that out of 168 hours of prime-time BBC One and BBC Two programming, lesbian and gay lives were realistically portrayed for just 6 minutes (0.06 per cent). A further 32 minutes of programming featured derogatory or offensive references to gay people.
Source: Katherine Cowan and Gill Valentine, Tuned Out: The BBC s portrayal of lesbian and gay people, Stonewall (020 7881 9440)
Links: Report | Stonewall press release
Date: 2006-Feb
A report examined media coverage of mental health. Public understanding of mental health had improved enormously over recent years, as had media reporting: but prejudiced attitudes remained deeply ingrained.
Source: Mind Over Matter: Improving media reporting of mental health, Shift/National Institute for Mental Health in England/National Health Service (0113 254 5000)
Links: Report | Summary | NIMHE press release | Mind press release
Date: 2006-Jan
The government responded to a report by a committee of peers on the BBC charter review.
Source: Government Response to the Lords Committee Report on Charter Review, Cm 6739, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | Peers report
Date: 2006-Jan