Joint memorandum by the The Rt Revd Nicholas
Baines, Anglican Bishop of Croydon, and The Rt Revd John Arnold,
Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster
The Christian understanding of what it is to
be human recognises that people will want to communicate and freely
share information with each other. There is a strong expectation,
in line with the Commandment not to bear false witness, that such
communication will be truthful and will build up the community
as it is shared. This places a high value on personal responsibility
and accountability for what is communicated.
The principle that the media should be free
and should hold those in authority to account arises directly
out of this view of the impulse to communicate. Therefore, any
policy towards the media should aim to permit business activities
that promote and facilitate the flow of information and mass communication,
whilst setting standards of truthfulness, accuracy and fairness.
SUMMARY
Policy affecting news provision should seek to
ensure the special character of the UK `s diverse news media,
which has traditionally been regarded as:
— trustworthy (accurate, fair
and impartial);
— widely consumed by all age groups
and all sections of society;
— reflecting the character and
composition of society.
The challenges include:
— the growth of digital media,
the convergence of formerly distinct media formats on the internet
and the bias towards celebrity/personality news;
— the trend towards fewer journalists
being employed in individual news outlets, both national and local,
and often under greater pressure from editors;
— and the need for media organisations
to compete for audiences.
Any policy should, therefore:
— be applied consistently across
all media as far as possible;
— promote the common good as well
as the interests of business and commerce;
— encourage intelligent news,
explanation and analysis promoting an educated and informed society
in which different communities increase their understanding of
each other and the world;
— discourage arbitrary assumptions
about the kind of news different audiences will consume;
— encourage a diversity of news
media fairly portraying different worldviews and beliefs;
— prevent the formation of news
monopolies;
— neither compromise nor give
the appearance of compromising editorial independence.
1. BACKGROUND
AND HISTORY
1.1 The Church of England's contribution
to public debate about Government policy formation and media regulation
and content over several decades advocates:
— high standards of truthfulness,
accuracy and fairness and a workable means of redress for the
public when media fail to meet the standards set and a means of
taking proper account of public concern over media standards;
— a strong public service ethos
in British broadcasting. Principally, this provides programmes
covering news, science, religion and other beliefs, social issues,
matters of international significance or interest, children's
programmes, matters of specialist interest and programmes reflecting
our community and culture.
1.2 The General Synod, the Church's governing
body, has passed several motions recognising "the media's
contribution to an open and informed society, significantly influencing
people's awareness of themselves, each other and the world."
— In February 2007 the Synod expressed
concern over the effect of some broadcast content on individuals
and society.
— In 1997 the Synod noted "with
concern the possibilities for lower standards as new technology
and other factors are likely to create greatly increased output
and competition;" and sought "assurance from Her Majesty's
Government that such matters are being constantly monitored with
a view to possible legislation should self-regulation within the
media prove ineffective."
2. SUBMISSION
Policy affecting news provision should seek to
ensure the special character of the UK `s diverse news media,
which has traditionally been regarded as:
— trustworthy (accurate, fair
and impartial);
— widely consumed by all age groups
and all sections of society;
— reflecting the character and
composition of society.
When it comes to news provision, we get what
we, or the advertisers, pay for. If news is to continue to have
a social and not just a commercial value, any policy should seek
to secure the dominance of public service values in news.
Q1. How and why have the agendas of news providers
changed? How has the content of news programmes and newspapers
altered over the years?
News agendas have changed in recent years to
reflect increasing commercial pressures on news providers of all
kinds. The arrival of the internet and multi-channel news media
has been accompanied by a fall in newspaper sales and the advance
of a celebrity- and entertainment-led agenda as newspapers, news
channels and websites compete for audiences. This does not bode
well for the maintenance of socially valuable news in a future
in which unregulated or minimally regulated digital media are
likely to dominate and underlines the need for continuing and
adequately funded public service broadcasting.
Q2. How is the way that people access the
news changing?
Recent surveys and commentary have drawn attention
to the extent and importance of trust between media and their
audiences. Trustworthiness has been one of the hallmarks of British
news media—dominated by public service broadcasting values
in broadcast news.
Television remains the main source of news[1]
for 65% of people, unchanged since 2002. Yet surveys suggest that
young people are turning away from traditional news sources and
patterns of news consumption, with 71% saying they value getting
news by internet or wireless technology.[2]
This contrasts with recorded levels of trust
in news sources. Recent data collected for the BBC suggests 86%
of the population finds television news trustworthy[3]
but only 24% trust blogs and 44% trust internet news sites.[4]
A fall-off in the consumption of news is consistent with this
low level of trust in these news sources preferred by young people.
If the UK is to remain a news consuming society,
knowledgeable about the realities of the world it lives in, it
must encourage the building of trust between target audiences
and news sources. News sources are less likely to encourage committed
audiences for news if they are not trusted.
Q3. How has the process of news gathering
changed?
— Media organisations, both national
and local, are employing fewer journalists on individual news
sources and often under greater pressure from editors.
— Owing to the need to compete
for audiences, the media are more inclined to cover headline-grabbing
celebrity and entertainment news than issues such as faith that
are increasingly significant within communities and have a greater
bearing on world events.
— Though there have been significant
initiatives to improve levels of religious literacy, such as within
the BBC's College of Journalism, the overall picture is patchy.
Q4. What is the impact of the concentration
of media ownership on the balance and diversity of opinion seen
in the news?
The UK's media is characterised by diversity
and inclusivity. Diversity of ownership within the significant
local media presence across the country is in contrast to the
concentration of national media ownership. Concentration of ownership
risks a constriction of viewpoints, yet the UK media retains a
genuine plurality of views, in some measure due to the health
of local provision.
The role of national and local print media in
relating to the diversity of the news audience has been ignored
in recent policy that has concentrated on broadcast and internet
media.
Local and regional newspapers are read by 40
million people,[5]
significantly in excess of the readership of national newspapers
of around 27 million.[6]
Local radio has an audience of nearly 35 million, compared to
about 43 million for national radio (RAJAR). The increase in internet
and mobile news is not an excuse for such sources to withdraw
from the provision of trustworthy news to these audiences. Certainly
not while trust in these alternative news sources remains low.
UK society is composed of a greater diversity
than a generation ago and that should be reflected by the diversity
of trustworthy news sources.
Q5. How should the public interest be protected
and defined in terms of news provision?
In the modern digital world, news provision is
characterised by:
— the same content being available
in print, online and on a mobile phone (convergence);
— newspapers publishing online
editions offering audio, video and podcasts;
— broadcast output available on
radio, TV or the internet live or at a chosen time;
— news including content generated
by the public posted straight onto websites like YouTube.
Any policy on media ownership and news provision
should therefore:
Apply consistently across all media as far as possible
Between Ofcom, the Press Complaints Commission
and the British Board of Film Classification for film and computer
games, there is regulation or classification appropriate to each
medium. In an age where the same or similar content appears across
many platforms, there is an increased risk of conflicting decisions.
Without advocating a single regulator for all
media, it is clear that:
— there is a continuing need for
regulation;
— there is a role for a clearer
common purpose among regulatory bodies.
If a coherent regime is ever to be created around
even part of the internet, it will require more co-operation between
regulatory bodies and between nations and international agencies.
Promote the common good as well as the interests
of business and commerce
The most significant challenge facing the provision
of news for society's health and well-being is to engage younger
people with trusted news sources on mobile and web-based platforms,
whilst avoiding other news being excluded by celebrity- and entertainment-led
news, which may enhance consumer markets but does not contribute
to creating an informed society.
News, like other public service content, should
be available on all platforms with commercial interests competing
within the market not for the market.
Encourage intelligent news, explanation and analysis
promoting an educated and informed society in which different
communities increase their understanding of each other and the
world and discourage arbitrary assumptions about the kind of news
different audiences will consume
In a multichannel world, targeting news to particular
audience tastes and needs can be based on arbitrary assumptions
about what kind of news different audiences will consume and aiming
for the lowest common denominator. This can create a self-fulfilling
prophecy where, for example, young people only want celebrity
news because that is what has dominated what they have been fed
and a Catch 22 where people never know what it is that they are
not being told.
Encourage a diversity of news media fairly portraying
different worldviews and beliefs
The diversity found in British media should
be encouraged and enhanced by a self-aware media able to address
its own shortcomings.
A recent YouGov Poll found that the proportion
professing a faith was 21% amongst journalists, compared with
70% in society generally. Despite best efforts to be impartial
or objective, the prevailing view in any group can lead to blindness
towards the importance of other worldviews and beliefs.
A BBC Trust report on impartiality in the BBC,[7]
gives an example of a poorly informed view of religion, speaking
of "less and less religious education", while, in fact,
Religious Studies, is one of the fastest growing subjects at both
GSCE and A Level.
One remedy is better training. The BBC journalism
college is one example but, amongst all the subjects of growing
significance in the world, the module on religion is only optional.
With the numbers of young journalists entering the media, there
is a role for the provision of continuing professional education.
Prevent the formation of news monopolies
Continuing vigilance is needed to prevent monopolies
of news and information developing if the common good is to be
served rather than simply commercial or market interests.
Neither compromise nor appear to compromise editorial
independence
Agendas have changed because the increasing
number of outlets has made news a bulk commodity and reduced media
profits. Comment and opinion is displacing straight news coverage
in a form of competition between news sources. Quality newspapers
have been accused of `dumbing down' in order to gain the sort
of readership valued by advertisers or, in the case of the BBC,
to raise audiences and protect the licence fee.
3 September 2007
1 Ofcom, New news p18 http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/tv/reports/newnews/newnews.pdf Back
2
ibid. Back
3
BBC/Reuters/Media Center Poll: Trust in the Media, 2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/02-05-06mediatrust.pdf Back
4
Ibid. Back
5
Newspaper Society Annual report 2006-07 http://www.newspapersoc.org.uk/PDF/NS-Annual-Review-2007.pdf Back
6
National Readership Survey, open access topline readership http://www.nrs.co.uk/open-access/open-topline/newspapers/index.cfm Back
7
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/news/press-releases/2007/impartiality.html Back
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