In October 2011, Jeremy Hunt MP, the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport asked Ofcom to answer five questions relating to media plurality.
This request followed Ofcom’s consideration of plurality in relation to the proposed NewsCorp/BSkyB transaction (the Public Interest Test) published in December 2010. Our report on that proposed transaction suggested that the existing framework for considering plurality might no longer be equipped to achieve Parliament’s policy objective.
In answering the questions, which are summarised in the statement document below, we first considered the underlying goals of plurality, its definition and scope:
- Plurality matters because it makes an important contribution to a well-functioning democratic society through informed citizens and preventing too much influence over the political process.
- We have defined plurality as a) ensuring there is a diversity of viewpoints available and consumed across and within media enterprises and b) preventing any one media owner or voice having too much influence over public opinion and the political agenda.
- Plurality needs to be considered both within organisations (i.e. internal plurality) and between organisations (i.e. external plurality).
- In terms of scope, a review of plurality should be limited to news and current affairs but these genres should be considered across television, radio, the press and online.
An effective framework for measuring media plurality is likely to be based on quantitative evidence and analysis wherever practical. However, there are also areas where a high degree of judgement is required. The appropriate approach to exercising such judgement is ultimately for Parliament to debate and determine.
In October 2011, Jeremy Hunt MP, the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, asked Ofcom to answer five questions relating to media plurality.
This request followed Ofcom's consideration of plurality in relation to the proposed NewsCorp/BSkyB transaction published in December 2010. Our report on that proposed transaction suggested that the existing framework for considering plurality might no longer be equipped to achieve Parliaments policy objective.
Ofcom responded to the Secretary of States questions on the 6th June 2012, in a report entitled "Measuring media plurality', which we provided both to him and the Leveson Inquiry. The report was published on the 19th June.
The then Secretary of State asked Ofcom for further advice, in the form of answers to seven supplementary questions, to be provided by the end of September 2012. Most of these questions related to further thinking on questions answered in our June report or to the practical implementation of our recommendations.
Ofcom's supplementary advice was sent to the Secretary of State, Maria Miller on the 28th September, and copied to the Leveson Inquiry. The report is available below.
Jeremy Hunt MP, the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, has written a letter to Ofcom in response to the report on measuring media plurality.
Colette Bowe, the Chairman of Ofcom, has written a letter to the Secretary of State in response. You can read her letter below.
