A paper said that new legislation to relax the restrictions on media reporting of family court cases lacked sufficient clarity about what could be reported, and could put the privacy of vulnerable children at risk.
Source: Robert George and Ceridwen Roberts, The Media and Family Courts: Key information and questions about the Children, Schools and Families Bill, Department of Social Policy and Social Work/University of Oxford
Links: Paper | Oxford University press release | Nuffield Foundation press release | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2009-Dec
A report said that fear of libel action meant that freedom of expression was under threat as never before. Intimidating and out-of-date laws in England were silencing free speech and scientific inquiry.
Source: Jo Glanville and Jonathan Heawood, Speech is Not for Sale: The impact of English libel law on freedom of expression, English PEN and Index on Censorship Links: Report | Index on Censorship press release | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Nov
An article examined media reporting of the case of 'baby P' (who died in 2007 as a result of child abuse). Despite the largely 'pernicious' newspaper accounts of the tragedy, there might be room, following the publication of the joint area review of children's services in Haringey council, to prompt more informed debates about 'reform' within the sector.
Source: Paul Michael Garrett, 'The case of "baby P": opening up spaces for debate on the "transformation" of children's services?', Critical Social Policy, Volume 29 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Aug
A study examined how people with direct experience of poverty could have a more effective voice in the media.
Source: Fred Robinson, Richard Else, Maeve Sherlock and Ian Zass-Ogilvie, Poverty in the Media: Being seen and getting heard, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Date: 2009-Jul
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport published its annual report for 2008-09, showing performance against public service agreement targets.
Source: Departmental Annual Report and Resource Accounts 2008-09, HC 450, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jul
The government responded to a report by a committee of peers on public service broadcasting. It said that it agreed with the committee regarding the need for public service alternatives to the BBC.
Source: Government Response to the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications Report on Public Service Broadcasting: Short-Term Crisis, Long-Term Future?, Cm 7639, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | Peers report
Date: 2009-Jun
The government published a White Paper setting out an action plan for the digital economy. It said that communications infrastructure and increased digital participation were key to building a 21st century knowledge economy. It promised universal access to broadband services by 2012, and the creation of a fund for investment in the next generation of 'superfast' broadband (funded by a levy on fixed telephone lines). It also set out a three-year national plan to improve digital participation. Some of the money raised through the BBC licence fee to fund the transition to digital television (which had not been spent) would be used to help fund regional news on ITV (non-public television).
Source: Digital Britain: Final report, Cm 7650, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, TSO (0870 600 5522) and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Links: White Paper | Hansard | DCMS/DBIS press release | Consultation responses | Directgov press release | CRC press release | Scottish Government press release | NIACE press release | NESTA press release | Consumer Focus press release | Action for Children press release | RNID press release | TUC press release | CBI press release | BCC press release | Conservative Party press release | Telegraph report (1) | Telegraph report (2) | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | RSN Online report
Date: 2009-Jun
A report by a committee of peers said that there was a continuing need for public service alternatives to the BBC. There would be dangers if the BBC were to become an even more dominant provider of public service programming.
Source: Public Service Broadcasting: Short-term crisis, long-term future?, Second Report (Session 2008-09), HL 61, House of Lords Communications Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Apr
A report said that the crisis facing public service broadcasting could be solved by a system of levies on the profits of companies that benefited from the existence of public-service-generated content but contributed little towards its production.
Source: Kay Withers, Mind the Funding Gap: The potential of industry levies for continued funding of public service broadcasting, Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union (020 7346 0900) and National Union of Journalists
Links: Report | BECTU/NUJ press release
Date: 2009-Apr
A report said that increasing commercial pressure, mainly driven by the digital revolution, was undermining the business models that paid for the news (apart from BBC news, which was funded by the licence fee). This would weaken some media organizations, 'hollow out' the craft of journalism, and adversely affect the quality and availability of independent factual journalism.
Source: Andrew Currah, What's Happening to Our News: An investigation into the likely impact of the digital revolution on the economics of news publishing in the UK, Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust ((01904 625744))
Date: 2009-Mar
A think-tank report said that public sector broadcasting only had a very limited role to play in the age of multi-channel television. The BBC should be the cornerstone of that: but over time its remit and funding should be reduced, as the market provided more programming in response to public demand.
Source: Martin Le Jeune, To Inform, Educate and Entertain? British broadcasting in the twenty-first century, Centre for Policy Studies (020 7222 4488)
Links: Report | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Mar
A report said that the existing system of press self-regulation was unable to deal with the serious and growing threats to press standards and press freedom. The system was insufficiently effective, largely unaccountable, opaque, and failing to reflect the radically changed media environment.
Source: A More Accountable Press: Part 1 – The Need for Reform – Is self-regulation failing the press and the public?, Media Standards Trust (020 7608 8149)
Links: Report | MST press release | CPBF press release
Date: 2009-Feb
A report examined how young people aged 13-18 were portrayed in the media, and what impact this had on them. Most media stories about young people were negative – stories involving young people were most commonly about crime, gangs, education, and social exclusion. Most young people felt that the media represented them as anti-social and as a group to be feared.
Source: Catherine Clark, Amrita Ghosh, Emrys Green and Naushin Shariff, Media Portrayal of Young People: Impact and influences, National Youth Agency (0116 285 3700)
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Jan
A report by a committee of MPs called for the development of detailed and enforceable guidelines to govern briefings to the media by police officers or civil servants during counter-terrorism operations.
Source: Police and the Media, Second Report (Session 2008-09), HC 75, House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jan
The broadcasting regulator examined how the public service broadcasting system could navigate from its analogue form to a new digital model – sustaining its quality and creative spirit while also capturing the opportunities of broadband distribution, mobility, and interactivity. It said that the BBC should continue to be at the heart of the overall system: Channel 4 should become part of a bigger organization through a merger or partnerships.
Source: Putting Viewers First: Ofcom's Second Public Service Broadcasting Review, Office of Communications (020 7981 3000)
Links: Report | Ofcom press release | CPBF press release | BBC report | FT report
Date: 2009-Jan