on media Raymond Snoddy picks through the parties’ manifestos


The politician and the curate’s egg


attempts to steal some of Labour’s clothes. Look deep into the documents and the same is true of media policy. The biggest surprise is Conservative


T


support for repealing Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act. This, you scarcely need reminding, is the provision that newspapers can win a libel action but pay all the costs if they haven’t signed up to an approved regulator. This Conservative Government


legislation followed on the back of former Prime Minister David Cameron’s commitment to accept the findings of the Leveson report. The decision is stranger still because


Culture Secretary Karen Bradley has not reported on the outcome of a public consultation on the issue. The Society of Editors was among those welcoming the manifesto commitment. Virtually the entire newspaper industry united in opposition to Section 40 which they believe “would have a serious chilling effect” on investigative journalism. Hard-pressed local newspapers


warned that it could take just one such case against them under Section 40 to close newspapers. The `Conservatives would also ditch part two of Leveson looking into the corporate governance failures that allowed phone hacking to happen.


Despite the widespread welcome for the undertaking to repeal Section 40, the Conservative curate’s egg threw up one slightly malodorous commitment.


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he Labour and Tory manifestos have demonstrated clear blue water between the parties – apart from Conservative


It is welcome that the Conservatives


have finally given up on their plan to privatise Channel 4, something pushed by Culture Secretary, John Whittingdale. The worry always was that if the


Tories were deprived of their favourite toy – privatisation- they would feel the need to do something, anything, because that is what politicians do. So, according to the manifesto,


Channel 4 will have to move out of London, which might be connected to the fact that Bradley is a Midlands MP. Making more high level media


jobs available outside London and sending them to Birmingham is a good idea, but it is an aim that could less wastefully be met by requiring the channel to increase the proportion of programmes it commissions from independent production companies outside London. Such a cost-free policy could


If the opinion polls are right then the media will emerge relatively unscathed following the election


improve cultural reach as well as spreading the wonga. Labour’s media manifesto is also a curate’s egg. Three cheers for the


Party’s commitment to public service


broadcasting and the BBC. The ambition to hold a


review of local media, and into the ownership of national media to ensure plurality, can be welcomed by anyone interested in the health of the UK media. Labour also wants to ensure


that media regulator Ofcom is better able to safeguard “a healthy plurality of media ownership” and put in place clear rules on “who is fit and proper to own or run TV and radio stations.”


The plan is a clear tilt at Rupert


Murdoch’s attempt to take over all of Sky, something that is more likely to happen than not.


In the other part of the egg, Labour says it wants to see the implementation of part one of Leveson – which implies support for Section 40. Part two of Leveson should also go ahead, something that few in the battered newspaper industry wish to see.


If the opinion polls are right then the media will emerge relatively unscathed following the election, although anyone with spare cash should consider buying a flat in Birmingham.


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