3. Conclusion
29. The rules fulfil a necessary function by ensuring
that broadcasters and indeed the House itself are provided with
visual and audio coverage that focuses on the proceedings and
protects the right of the backbencher to be seen. We have proposed
some modest changes and these are detailed in an Annex 1 to this
Report. There is no case for wholesale changes to the rules. Such
change would not anyway deliver radically different television
images; content is a function of the nature of the work and not
of the rules of coverage. The broadcasters can do much more to
help provide a context for the material they use. This could help
to divert attention from sound-bites and confrontation and give
the public a better and deeper understanding of the role and function
of the House and their elected representatives. There are clear
links with the strategic objectives that the House of Commons
Commission has agreed, the agenda of the Modernisation Committee
and initiatives aimed at re-engaging the public in politics and
political debate. The House must do all it can to help the broadcasters
provide a context. Constructive innovations, such as the introduction
of the live inject points or the introduction of cross-cutting
questions in Westminster Hall, will do more to engage the interest
of the broadcasters and the public than any changes to the rules
of coverage.
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