Caution was the watchword of Labour strategists in the run-up to the general election. There was only one mention of media policy in Labour’s manifesto. They committed to “working constructively” with the BBC and other UK public service broadcasters, “so they continue to inform, educate and entertain people, and support a creative economy by commissioning distinctively British content”.
Afterwards, it was silent on the many challenges facing public service broadcasting, in the context of an under-regulated media environment, years of cuts and a hostile press. Questions of press regulation or what to do about the radically shifting communications environment were not included. Labour clearly didn’t want to provoke attacks from the right-wing media by encouraging a discussion of media policy.
Time to implement Leveson
Now the election is over, the new secretary of state at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Lisa Nandy, has to address these and other pressing issues.
Before the election, Labour stepped back from its long-standing commitment to implement the Leveson proposals to encourage newspapers to join an independent regulator. These have strong support in other parties, in particular the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party. Now is the time to implement Leveson.
The regulatory environment needs overhaul
Right-wing press and pressure groups like the IEA want to see the BBC and Channel 4 further undermined. The News Media Association, which represents most UK local and national news publishers, has called for curbs on the BBC’s journalism.
The DCMS should resist this pressure. It should open consultations on the future of the BBC to the public and seek ideas about how to make it, and other media institutions more accountable.
We have to radically overhaul the neo-liberal media regulator, Ofcom. It has consistently preferred promoting under-regulated communications markets over its obligation to sustain public service media. Since the early 2000s, for example, it has allowed ITV to retreat from many of its public service obligations and most recently has controversially permitted a great deal of leeway over the interpretation of due impartiality to GB News.
Regulation should be about maintaining strong, accountable public media across all platforms. That means looking closely at just what a regulator like Ofcom needs to do to achieve these ends. This might be tightening existing public service regulations on commercial operators.
It should mean looking again at how people are appointed to the boards governing Ofcom, and the BBC. It would mean strengthening Ofcom’s s legal obligations to support and develop public service media content. We also need to support initiatives that inject more accountability into the system, like proposals for the devolution of broadcasting powers to Wales and Scotland.
A golden opportunity to reform
The power of the big tech giants – Meta, Google and the rest – has to be challenged. They exist in a regulatory Wild West. They extract huge profits from the UK and are not properly taxed. A levy on these companies would help fund new public service media initiatives.
Other pressing issues include media ownership, workers’ rights, the implications of AI and the need to make streaming services subject to requirements to produce content in and about the UK.
Labour has a chance to reform the media. We must encourage that by lobbying for change, now.
The Media Reform Coalition is organising a fringe meeting at the Labour Party Conference on 23 September.
Article first published in Media North: Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom (North). For more from Media North, and to subscribe to their newsletter, visit their website.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO OUR CROWDFUNDER
HELP US BECOME STRONGER SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO DELIVER POWERFUL CITIZEN JOURNALISM!
