Goldsmiths News Group

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Angela Phillips

We are  members of the Leverhulme Media Research Centre at Goldsmiths, University of London. Our work focusses on the way in which changes in owenership structures and technology have impacted on journalism and therefore on democracy. The upheaval at News International has created an opportunity for a  debate about a  democratic  framework for the news media. The Goldsmiths News Group will be a part of that debate.  Please join us below.

James Curran,  Aeron Davis, Natalie Fenton, Des Freedman, Peter Lee Wright, Angela Phillips

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Media Reform Public Meeting: 17 November

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Des Freedman

Public seminar to discuss Media Reform’s briefing papers on ethics and regulation, plurality and the public interest, and funding models.

10am-1pm Thursday 17 November, British Academy, 10 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1. Please contact info@mediareform.org.uk to reserve a free place.

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European Referendum, Polling and Public Opinion

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Aeron Davis

Yesterday we witnessed a large-scale Conservative Party back-bench rebellion over the issue of Europe. The rebellion over Conservative demands for a referendum on UK membership of the EU, numbered some 80 MPs. The rebellion, and the coverage around it, told us several things about the nature of the Party, but also about polls and public opinion.

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Don’t let the BBC become the issue in news ownership debate

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Des Freedman

Des Freedman responds to Dan Hind on Open Democracy and argues that the BBC should not be equated with the private media in the debate on Media Reform: Continue reading →

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Looking for Entrepreneurs with Tax Cuts

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Aeron Davis

They seek them here, they seek them there, they seek those entrepreneurs everywhere … In recent months the word ‘entrepreneur’ has appeared frequently in media coverage of the economic crisis. So much of the current government’s economic strategy relies on the private sector stepping in and providing the new industries and jobs to return UK Plc to growth and propel us out of recession. And to do this enterprising business individuals are needed. But, the question is: what do we all mean by entrepreneurs?

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Met Police shoot Guardian in surprise own goal

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Angela Phillips

When Theresa May  got her chosen candidate for chief of the Metropolitan Police his sole qualification for the job  seemed to be that he hadn’t yet criticised the Government.  So, perhaps to show his boss that he is ready for action, he has started by vigorously kicking the ball down the pitch towards the wrong goal, by using the Official Secrets Act to prosecute a Guardian journalist. Continue reading →

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Next Coordinating Committee meeting

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Angela Phillips

The next meeting of the Coordinating Committee for Media Reform

4pm Wednesday 5 October at CCC, 16 Acton Street,
Kings Cross, London WC1.

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Interrogating Contemporary News: Asking the right questions

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Natalie Fenton

The Leveson inquiry has been launched to investigate phone hacking and the culture, practices and ethics of the press; there is a Lords Select Committee on the future of investigative journalism; a joint Select Committee on privacy and injunctions; all of which will feed into a Communications Review leading up to the New Communications Act in 2013 and bring with them unprecedented opportunities to interrogate contemporary news. So what questions should we be asking? Continue reading →

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Roy Greenslade, the Middleton pictures and the PCC+

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Angela Phillips

Roy Greenslade‘s blog (see our RSS feed) comes up with a stream of reasons why the PCC adjudication in the case of the Middleton pictures was reasonable.  The photos, taken in 2006, showed the women of the family in bikinis while on holiday. They found their way into the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and Mirror shortly after the wedding of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge in May this year. Continue reading →

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Not Enough Talk on the NHS

Posted on September 4, 2011 by Aeron Davis

This week the health and social welfare bill returns to the House of Commons for debate. Only two days are being given to debate the multiple amendments to this large bill; a bill, which, despite all appearances, has shifted little from its intended primary course of privatising the NHS. Once again, a pitifully-small amount of public debate time is being devoted to the wholesale restructuring of the most cherished of UK public institutions. This lack of public debate, coupled with behind the scenes scheming and restructuring goes back decades.

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Co-ordinating Committee for Media Reform

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Angela Phillips

The Co-ordinating Committee for Media Reform has been initiated by researchers in the Goldsmiths Leverhulme Media Research Centre and has been welcomed by many of the leading media reform groups including the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, Voice of the Listener and Viewer, Media Standards Trust, National Union of Journalists, 38 Degrees, Open Society Media Programme, MediaWise, Compass, Coalition of Resistance, Meccsa [Media and Communications subject association] Policy Network. Continue reading →

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