Supplementary letter from the Lord Currie
of Marylebone, Chairman of Ofcom
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
AND THE
NEWS
You will recall that Ed Richards and Peter Philips
gave evidence to the committee's above inquiry in November 2007.
I note also that you heard recently from the previous Chair of
the Ofcom Content Board as part of the same inquiry. Many of the
issues raised touch upon Ofcom's operation, so it may be helpful
if I provide additional context, particularly in respect of developments
since Richard stood down.
Convergence, the reason that Ofcom was created,
is now an increasing reality in the way citizens use and consume
news and other content. The Content Board has therefore reappraised
its role to address more centrally Ofcom's duties in respect of
media literacy and effective co- and self-regulation. In practice,
this means that the Content Board plays a lead role in shaping
a number of Ofcom outputs. The most notable recent examples are
Ofcom's submission to Dr Tanya Byron's review of online and video
game child safety, together with our new guidance on children's
participation in television programmes.
Convergence offers significant new opportunities
for audiences, but also generates the potential for new forms
of harm. The composition of the Content Board today more closely
reflects these emerging opportunities and challenges. The recent
misuses of Premium Rate Services in specialist participation television,
as well as general competition phone-in shows are a good example.
The Board's Sanctions Committee has issued a number of significant
fines in respect of breaches in this area, and we are considering
others at the time of writing. These areas of activity more properly
fall within the remit of consumer protection, which now goes alongside
the Board's traditional role in safeguarding the interests of
citizens that Richard Hooper focused upon in his evidence.
The Content Board's activity is no longer wholly
or largely complaints-led. Richard Ayre, a member of the Content
Board conducted the independent review of broadcasters' use of
Premium Rate Services. Kath Worrall, another member reviewed the
use of children in programmes which led to new guidance for broadcasters.
The Board as a whole recently initiated a public event in Scotland
to discuss Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) and is planning further
such events in the next year. The Board also publishes guidance
proactively and alongside our regular Broadcast Bulletins.
I hope this gives additional flavour of the
work of the Content Board. I also wanted to pick up your exchange
with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport regarding
the future of impartiality of television news on non-designated
PSB channels. I know you will be aware—but it bears repetition
nonetheless—that Ofcom is not proposing to relax impartiality
obligations for non-PSB news. In our New News, Future News discussion
document we suggested only that "it is timely to open up
a debate for the future about whether a relaxation in the universal
application of impartiality rules for television might encourage
more diverse—and, potentially more engaging—television
news in the digital age".
I would be pleased to meet you at the Lords
to discuss further if you would find that useful.
16 April 2008
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