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Media and democracy - Twitter could make a difference
Jacquie R
DATELINE: 9/9/10
Enough is more than enough. Ordinary members of the public like me are increasingly alarmed by the growth of powerful media corporations like News International, who can make or break governments and individuals. This is no new phenomenon but, as readers of this site will be all too aware, the stranglehold on print and broadcast media threatens to get tighter and tighter under the coalition government. Talk of cross media rules relaxation and a shrinking BBC sends shivers down our spines.
In the Observer last Sunday (5 September) Will Hutton warned us that, unlike most democracies, Britain was dumb to the importance of complex rules about media ownership: "We impose no nationality requirement, we do not tightly police the share of any media market held by one proprietor, nor make demands about limiting owners' power to take ownership chunks across the media domains; we do not even care much about preventing market dominance. The assumption has been that lightly applied competition law, along with self-regulation, is all that is required, with little thought for any politician and cultural consequences. "
We are apparently sleepwalking into a real danger zone, and we, the people, need to wake up. Politicians are mostly a lost cause as they're usually too afraid to stand up to the media giants, which is why we have this ever decreasing level of regulation. Similarly with our opinion leaders and celebrities - it takes courage to bite the hand of one's employer. And so there is a deafening silence of high profile protest, leaving it all to the brave voices of the CPBF, and a range of dedicated individuals, organisations and activists who have largely had to fight the battle on their own.
It's high time now for more of us to get on board. The recent 38 Degree campaign successfully mobilised thousands of members of the public. We need to continue this trend and involve people from all walks of life. We need to be able to demonstrate our anger, our fear, our concern for the integrity of our media. And if we do it together, we'll succeed because, at the end of the day, we are the consumers who the media empires depend upon.
At the close of his powerful article, Will Hutton calls for a media commission to examine Britain's ownership and competition rules. Clearly this is fundamental to our democracy and needs to happen urgently. And this is why , from a laptop in Kent, we have just launched our Twitter campaign for a media commission. It's called DemocracyFail and, thanks to "retweets" from Jeremy Hardy and Alastair Campbell, acquired over 100 followers in one day. The reaction has been very positive. People seem pleased to be able to do something tangible instead of tearing their hair out. And we hope that, by growing in numbers and sending links to different articles and websites, the idea of a media commission will become an increasingly high profile topic at the party conferences.
But the more people who join us on Twitter, the more impact we shall have. So, if you are registered with Twitter, please go to @DemocracyFail, follow us and ask your followers to follow us. And, if you're not on Twitter, even if you hate the thought of it, please register and follow us. It's free to join Twitter, and you might even get hooked!
To get more information please email CPBF at freepress@cpbf.org.ukLast modified: Thursday, September 9, 2010
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Fringe meeting at the TUC
DATELINE: 26/8/10Tuesday 14 September 6.00pm – 8.00pm Mayor’s Parlour, Manchester Town Hall, M2 5DB
‘Media for All – the Democratic Challenge’.
An open event hosted by Making Good Society and the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom (CPBF), supported by the Carnegie UK Trust.
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DATELINE: 26/3/10
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MEDIA FOR ALL CONFERENCE 09
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Media for All Conference 09
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Previous stories
Media Ownership
Media and democracy - Twitter could make a difference
Ofcom recommends cross-media ownership rules should be relaxed
Vince Cable can halt the Foxification of UK News
Murdoch bids for total control of BSkyB
Murdoch's News Corporation in BSkyB takeover offer
Office of Fair Trading clears Alexander Lebedev as Independent buyer
One in five staff cull keeps Trinity Mirror in profit
NUJ demands guarantees at Manchester Evening News
BSkyB to sell most of ITV stake
Media for All conference: Silvio's Back
Passion and humour in fight to save Observer
Economic stimulus plan needed for local journalism
New threat to media ownership rules
Conservative media plans will damage journalism
Government acts on future of regional media
NUJ in government talks to save local media
Journalists urged to find 'back to basics' business model
Local media ownership review looks at survival of newspapers
Local media ownership rules 'likely to be relaxed'
BSkyB loses appeal ruling
Appeals tribunal rules BSkyB must sell ITV stake
Tribunal to rule on BSkyB's ITV stake
TUC condemns erosion of civil liberties and press freedom
Media Ownership in the Age of Convergence
Lords take stand against media barons
BBC Trust concludes its review of bbc.co.uk
Murdoch company tried on sabotage allegations
Sky and Virgin go to law
Lords Probe Media Ownership and News - Part 2
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