by barry | Apr 1, 2023 | BBC, Government, media ownership, nuj, Press, Public Service Broadcasting
This week saw the publication of the government’s long awaited draft Media Bill. Such main- stream media attention it’s received highlights the proposed repeal of Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013. This piece of legislation is based on the Leveson...
by barry | Mar 11, 2023 | Government, nuj, Reviews, unions
Yorkshireman Sir Bernard Ingham who died on 24 February aged 90 is best known for being Margaret Thatcher’s high profile press secretary a post he held for eleven years. He was regarded as a highly effective propagandist for the Thatcher cause. But he was not always a...
by barry | Feb 25, 2023 | Campaigns, censorship, Government, media freedom, Press, whistle blowing
Recent press reports reveal that Home Secretary Suella Braverman has ordered the controversial Bill be reviewed because of concerns about its impact on journalism https://pressgazette.co.uk/media_law/national-security-bill-journalists-public-interest-defence/ . This...
by barry | Feb 12, 2023 | Campaigns, censorship, freedom of information, Government, media freedom, whistle blowing
Last week at Prime Minister’s Question Time, Labour MP for Streatham in south London, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, asked the Prime Minister to come clean on how much public money has been spent on secretive Whitehall ‘counter disinformation units’...
by barry | Nov 10, 2022 | Campaigns, censorship, freedom of information, Government, media freedom
In June I blogged that the government had introduced its much heralded National Security Bill into Parliament: https://thespark.me.uk/2022/06/15/governments-new-security-bill-threatens-whistle-blowers-and-journalists-and-our-right-to-know/. In the government’s view...
by barry | Nov 7, 2022 | Campaigns, Government, media ownership, Public Service Broadcasting
It’s reasonable to say that there have been a number of twists and turns since the Johnson government first announced it was considering privatising the commercially-funded public service broadcaster. Last July the broadcaster published its delayed Annual Report with...
