Memorandum by Voice of the Listener and
Viewer
1. VLV is pleased to have the opportunity
to respond to the Select Committee's consultation on Media Ownership
and the News.
2. Given the particular scope of this consultation,
it is our intention to respond at this stage only to question
5—"How should the public interest be protected and
defined in terms of news provision? Are the public interest considerations
set down for Ofcom in the Communications Act 2003 enough to ensure
a plurality of debating voices in the UK news media?". While
the other areas of inquiry of this consultation are undoubtedly
of interest, from the perspective of VLV they would perhaps be
more effectively answered by members of the journalistic and news
production community. VLV, in the response that follows, seeks
to represent the interests of listeners and viewers.
3. The public interest, in terms of news
provision, should be defined according to the following well-established
criteria:
— universality of provision—it
is essential for democracy that all citizens should have access
to all major broadcast news services;
— impartiality—News services
must not be seen to be partial in any one direction and news provision
should be appropriately distinguished from comment and opinion;
— plurality—News should
be provided by as many providers as possible at the national,
regional and local level; and
— diversity—News provision
should ideally come from organisations with differing funding
arrangements and structures, and should be designed to meet the
needs of the distinct audiences in the United Kingdom.
4. The public interest test and considerations
contained in the 2003 Act are potentially problematic, because:
(a) OFCOM has operated a general orientation
towards de-regulation and marketisation in the broadcasting sector,
as prescribed for it by the 2003 Act itself;
(b) the Test is applied only after a decision
to do so by the Secretary of State, creating the possibility of
such a decision appearing to represent a conflict of interest
(where for example, a media organisation has a either a perceived
good or bad relationship with the Government).
5. An alternative system could perhaps involve
either the public interest test being applied automatically (based,
for example, on the audience-share of the news supplier), or being
applied by an independent person or body—perhaps the Ofcom
consumer panel.
6. In addition, vital to protection of the
public interest in news provision is maintaining the status, funding
and independence of the BBC, and by the fostering of alternative
voices in news provision through such media as community radio,
local television and localised online news services.
September 2007
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