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This article examines the evolution of public service broadcasting (PSB) regulation in the UK, contrasting two opposing perspectives on its role and addressing its contemporary challenges. Analysing the historical context and recent regulatory changes, the article argues that PSB remains vital to the UK's media landscape, providing high quality content and serving the public good. However, it identifies technological advancements and political interference as significant threats to its continued success. The article critically evaluates the draft Media Bill's potential to address these challenges and enhance PSB's competitiveness. Additionally, it raises concerns about potential bias within the regulatory body, Ofcom, urging greater transparency and fairness in its oversight of the media market. The article emphasises the need for a robust regulatory framework to ensure the continued viability of PSB and foster a vibrant and diverse media ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impartiality has been a core principle of public service broadcasting (PSB) in the UK for 100 years. However, it is under growing pressure as audiences increasingly rely on more opinion led content on television and especially online. The hostility towards PSB has been fuelled by politicians and commercial media undermining the value of regulation in the twenty‐first century. The UK regulator, Ofcom, has offered a flexible approach to oversight which the authors argue may have contributed to further confusion over what impartiality is, and its value in a competitive media environment. Greater independence, accountability and transparency—for both broadcasters and regulator—are suggested to be vital to maintaining the value of impartiality in PSB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I examine Brian Winston's defence of freedom of expression as a key Enlightenment principle and his criticisms of broadcasting regulation in the UK for departing from it. I also focus on the notion of harm, deriving from John Stuart Mill, that Winston employs to indicate where the limits of freedom of expression should lie. Winston complains that notions of offence and insult have increasingly expanded definitions of harm and so narrowed the bounds of freedom of expression. I use this critique as the starting point for an analysis of the regime of online regulation currently being proposed by the UK government in the form of the Online Safety Bill. This, I argue, threatens to create an unwieldy, unaccountable and unnecessary state apparatus of online censorship, operates with far too broad and vague a notion of harm, and will see material expelled from the online world which is entirely legal in the offline world. I conclude by examining recent proposals from the Law Commission for bringing the regulation of certain categories of online and offline communications into line, and for clarifying what is actually meant by harm in certain specific pieces of legislation. I argue that the commission's carefully delimited approach to the issue of harm in the communications sphere is greatly preferable to the regulatory Behemoth proposed by the Online Safety Bill, which would very seriously endanger the communicative freedoms espoused by Brian Winston. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of China Media Report Overseas is the property of Edmondson Intercultural Enterprises and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Propósito – A procura pela arbitragem como meio de resolução de litígios se mostra importante em função do grande volume de causas submetidas ao julgamento do Estado-juiz, em número inversamente proporcional ao preparo técnico daqueles que são investidos na função jurisdicional por ato estatal. Atualmente, falar em composição extrajudicial de conflitos no campo da regulação significa adentrar em um cenário de grandes discussões e debates. Dessa forma, o texto busca construir razões para a resolução de litígios no âmbito das telecomunicações por meio da arbitragem, inclusive, face a experiência europeia, a exemplo da OFCOM. Metodologia/Abordagem/Design – Inicialmente será feita uma análise histórica acerca da arbitragem. Num momento posterior, discutir-se-á o fenômeno da regulação e a vinculação com o campo da arbitragem. Logo depois, será feita uma análise das experiências brasileira e europeia. Por fim, dados serão levantados para evidenciar os motivos que levam a diferenciar o modelo brasileiro do europeu. Resultados – Uma das atribuições das agências reguladoras é, justamente, a solução de conflitos entre os agentes do setor, algo que na Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações (ANATEL), é realizado em sua maioria apenas em nível administrativo. Quando se analisam as formas de resolução de disputas na Comunidade Europeia, observa-se uma realidade peculiar. Em grandes disputas que ocorrem no continente, é mais comum utilizar-se a arbitragem do que o próprio Poder Judiciário. Em verdade, a arbitragem pode ser utilizada pela ANATEL como uma ferramenta importante na garantia de uma ampla, livre e justa concorrência entre as prestadoras de serviços de telecomunicações, na medida em que coíbe a morosidade do Poder Judiciário e a possibilidade de discussões meramente protelatórias, viabilizando a prolação célere de uma decisão que, muitas vezes, afetará a esfera jurídica de praticamente todos os usuários dos serviços de telecomunicações. Confere-se, assim, um grande prestígio a esses métodos de resolução de disputas, na medida em que eles propiciam uma neutralidade de foro. Não se confere a decisão ao Poder Judiciário ou ao órgão regulador de um país específico, mas escolhem-se árbitros a partir do comum acordo das partes ou, ainda, apontam-se instituições de âmbito internacional que prestam o serviço de arbitragem em disputas comerciais.

This article examines media literacy in the UK: a policy that emerged within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in the late 1990s, was adopted by the New Labour administration, and enshrined in the Communications Act 2003. That legislation gave the new media regulator, Ofcom, a duty to 'promote' media literacy, although it left the term undefined. The article describes how Ofcom managed this regulatory duty. It argues that over time, media literacy was progressively reduced in scope, focusing on two policy priorities related to the growth of the internet. In the process, media literacy's broader educative purpose, so clearly articulated in much of the early policy rhetoric, was effectively marginalized. From the Coalition government onwards, the promotion of media literacy was reduced further to a matter of market research. Today, if not altogether dead, the policy is governed by entirely different priorities to those imagined at its birth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we demonstrate that there is more to consumer experience than just broadband access speed. We identify and describe a complex and dynamic set of interactions that occur between different factors that collectively determine consumer experience. We suggest that the relationship between broadband speed and consumer experience follows an inverted U-shape. Access speed is necessary to provide consumers with a good experience, but it is not sufficient. Based on our findings, a more nuanced understanding of the market for broadband Internet access products is outlined and a foundation for deriving valuable policy implications is developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the United Kingdom as a case study, this article examines the application of competition regulation to the contemporary television industry. The article begins with a brief overview of the nature of competition law. It then moves on to consider the growing importance attached to competition regulation within the UK television industry. Using a range of recent examples, the main part of the article analyses the application of competition regulation to UK television broadcasting in four main areas, namely: (1) mergers and acquisitions; (2) monopoly/market dominance; (3) cartels; and (4) state aid and public service broadcasting. The article highlights two key points: first, the difficulty of applying competition law principles to the television industry, most notably in relation to key concepts, such as ‘market definition’ and the ‘abuse’ of market dominance; and, second, the inherently political nature of competition law.

The commercial public service broadcasters (PSBs) in the United Kingdom (UK) make a significant contribution to the country's public service television system, alongside the BBC. Operating under the UK communications regulator Ofcom, the commercial PSB channels ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5 are required to broadcast varying levels of public service content. This places these channels in a different category to all other market broadcasters in the UK. By taking a critical political economy of communication approach, this article examines how the regulatory system functions to secure public service provision in television. A particular focus is placed on the first-run originations quotas, which govern the levels of programming that are originally produced or commissioned by a commercial PSB, and broadcast for the first time in the UK. It is argued that while fulfilling the public service remit, the commercial PSBs gain significant benefits that contribute to the underpinning of their business models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 2010 to 2015, video-on-demand services in the UK were regulated by the Authority for Television on Demand (ATVOD), under an agreement with the statutory regulator Ofcom and applying the pan-European standards introduced through the 2007 EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive. A key question for the regulators and for service providers was whether any given service fell within the 'scope' of the law - that is, which services met the legal definition of an on-demand audiovisual media service. This is a study of how Ofcom exercised its role as the final arbiter of that definition, through a close examination of its fifteen decisions in appeals against initial determinations by ATVOD. The use of the legal test for 'comparability' with conventional television services, and the regulatory focus on 'TV-like' on-demand services, has demonstrated the significance of production and aesthetics as a determinant of regulation. In particular, production decisions regarding titles, credits and duration, as well as a range of issues of perceived quality (audio, video, voice-over, editing and the like), have been taken into account. It is contended that Ofcom has relied on focus group research rather than on wider insights from television studies research in assessing these factors, and that the underlying Directive may have been flawed in its concepts and definitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Law, State & Telecommunications Review / Revista de Direito, Estado e Telecomunicações is the property of Grupo de Estudos em Direito das Telecomunicacoes (GETEL) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This Intervention provides a review of developments in the regulation of broadcast advertising within the UK. The piece focuses on the implications of media convergence on broadcast advertising, and provides a brief history and analysis of the regulation of broadcast advertising within the UK. The piece also reviews Advertising Codes and provides an overview of regulatory bodies such as OFCOM and the ASA, and their respective roles.

As network neutrality has been one of the most contentious Internet public policy issues of the past decade, this article provides a comparative overview of events, policies, and legislation surrounding Internet traffic management practises (ITMPs) (e.g., network neutrality) in Japan, the European Union, the United States, and Canada. Using the frame provided by Richard Rose of “hybrid lessons”to create a policy synthesis, the paper details the telecom policy environment, Internet Service provider competition, legislative jurisdiction, remedies for ITMPs, consumer transparency, and adherence to privacy protection in each country. The analysis focuses on Canada’s first significant regulatory effort to address network neutrality, which came during the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission 2009 process on Internet traffic management. This paper presents a brief overview of the Canadian regulatory environment and the specific questions which were the subject of the CRTC review. Employing Richard Rose’s methods for comparative public policy analysis, we offer a number of regulatory “lessons” from Japan, the European Union, and the United States based on their experiences with traffic management issues. Applying these lessons to the Canadian context, we make several specific policy recommendations, among them that competition be encouraged within the Internet service provider space, that network management practises be reasonable and limited, and that ISPs provide full disclosure of network management policies and practises.

As soon as he came to power, Tony Blair linked the challenge of information and communication technologies to state and public services reforms, and placed the central state at the heart of a British-style information society. If centralisation is undoubtedly one of the most characteristic features of that model, it is actually uneven, varying according to the matter in question (be it market regulation or e-learning policies for instance), and also, more interestingly, according to the area or territory concerned.

Using the United Kingdom (UK) as a case study, this article analyses the growing commercial and regulatory significance of broadcaster–distributor relations within the contemporary television industry. The first part of the article argues that despite important changes in broadcast delivery technology, more recently shaped by the growth of the Internet, and the associated growth of options of receiving television content, the traditional delivery platforms (digital terrestrial, satellite and cable) remain by far the preferred choice for viewers in Britain. At the same time, public service broadcasters continue to be the biggest investors in domestic original non-sport content and account for over half of all television viewing. The strength of PSBs in content and their growing reliance on commercial proprietary subscription platforms (cable and satellite) and gradually on the Internet presents challenges in the nexus between broadcasters and distributors. The article focuses on the debate over retransmission fees between PSBs and Sky, and on the question of whether Sky should be required to offer some of its premium content to rival pay-TV platforms. These two examples highlight the impact regulatory intervention can have on the balance of power between broadcasters and distributors. The article concludes that such debates concerning the commercial relations between content providers and distributors will remain pivotal and become more heated given that similar issues are raised in the Internet environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local broadcasting is at a crossroads in Western media systems. While regulators work to address emergent challenges, an enduring tension within the discourse of local media regulation remains how to define 'the local.' Stemming from the inability to meet this challenge, an artificial duality has emerged between communities of place and communities of interest within regulatory discussions. The larger epistemological question, therefore, remains undertheorized: How can we think through these issues in a productive fashion, rather than reducing them to an artificial dichotomy of spatial versus social? Through the use of illustrative instances from the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, I argue that the neo-Marxian theory of critical regionalism is a useful framework to approach this question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 26 October 2011, it was announced that the BBC coverage of the so-called Arab Spring would come under an internal BBC Trust review. The review was led by Edward Mortimer, former UN Director of Communications and an expert in Middle Eastern affairs. Its chief aim was to determine the level of impartiality to which the BBC rose during what Mortimer described as an apparently 'exciting' time for journalists. The report was described as 'remarkable, given the challenges involved, and was generally impartial'. This article will present some notes which contradict the BBC Trust's self-review while acting as advice for practitioners on misrepresentation and things to avoid while reporting abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A notable development of recent times has been the exponential increase of video content available on newspaper websites. The technological convergence between press and broadcasting throws into sharp relief the historically disparate regulation of the two sectors. As long as no political consensus on regulatory convergence can be reached, the question of how to distinguish between text-based and video-based media in the online domain will remain relevant. In recent times, this question has surfaced in the context of the classification of newspaper publishers' video sites as on-demand audiovisual media services (AVMS). This article examines the contrasting positions of the UK and Austrian regulatory authorities concerning the regulation of video material on the websites of print publications. The author argues that Ofcom's approach makes it hard to predict the mixture that would bring a hybrid service within the scope of regulation. By contrast, the Austrian approach offers a pragmatic solution to a problem that is only beginning to emerge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers how the UK Regulator, in collaboration with stakeholders, is attempting to create a new market opportunity for advanced networked services using interleaved Digital Terrestrial Television (DTTV) Whitespace, that is, valuable spectrum released and reorganised post the digital switchover. It discusses inter alia a key issue, which is how the Regulator will balance the technical requirements needed to create a commercially viable network, against his competing obligation under the Communications Act 2003 to maintain order and avoid interference to DTTV and Programme Making & Special Event (PMSE) users. Particular consideration is given to the outcome of field trials and areas of forward risk for the Regulator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the emergence of the concept of ‘media literacy’ within UK communications policy, focusing particularly on the period leading up to the 2003 Communications Act. While broadly deregulatory in intention, the Act gave the new media regulator, Ofcom, a duty to ‘promote media literacy’. This article explores the origins of this theme, the different discourses and definitions in play, and the roles of the various agents involved. It argues that there were some significant strategic shifts in the debates around media literacy, which reflect broader tensions between neoliberal and social-democratic tendencies within New Labour’s communications policy. The article suggests that this resulted in a lack of clarity about the definition of media literacy, the scope and nature of Ofcom’s role, and the means by which the policy might be implemented – problems that partly account for the subsequent demise (or significant redefinition) of media literacy as a theme within communications policy towards the end of the decade. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Between 2000 and 2010, new institutional arrangements were created for UK broadcasting regulation, built upon a radical rethinking of communications policy. This article examines key changes arising from Labour's media policy, the Communications Act 2003 and the work of Ofcom. It argues that changes within broadcasting were less radical than the accompanying rhetoric, and that contradictory tendencies set limits to dominant trends of marketisation and liberalisation. The article explores these tendencies by reviewing the key broadcasting policy issues of the decade including policies on the BBC, commercial public service and commercial broadcasting, spectrum and digital switchover, and new digital services. It assesses changes in the structural regulation of media ownership, the shift towards behavioural competition regulation, and the regulation of media content and commercial communications. In doing so, it explores policy rationales and arguments, and examines tensions and contradictions in the promotion of marketisation, the discourses of market failure, political interventions, and the professionalisation of policy-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2009 David Cameron, the Leader of the British Conservative Party, then in opposition, announced that 'with a Conservative Government, Ofcom as we know it will cease to exist' (Tryhorn 2009; Holmwood 2009). He said the United Kingdom's communications regulator,the Office of Communications (Ofcom), would be cut back 'by a huge amount' and would 'no longer play a role in making policy'. Three years later, with Mr Cameron half-way through his term as Prime Minister of a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government,Ofcom's budget had been cut - broadly in line with savings in the United Kingdom's other public bodies - but it had far from ceased to exist. In fact it had an even wider role in regulation. Cameron's government had asked Ofcom to regulate postal services in addition to its existing responsibilities for telecommunications and broadcasting.The British Prime Minister said the regulator's core functions were 'essential' (Leveson Inquiry 2012h: 50, par. 157). His government regularly asked for policy input from Ofcom and in 2011 sought advice on how to handle issues of media plurality (Department for Culture Media and Sport 2011). Understanding how such a sudden political change of heart came about provides a case study into an issue which goes far beyond the United Kingdom's shores - how political leaders, rather than submit to demands from news organizations for the de-regulation of their activities, may find that regulators are, in fact, a useful buttress against media pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Media regulation in the United Kingdom has traditionally seen a division between State regulation (in the case of broadcasting) and self-regulation (in the case of newspapers), both subject to laws of general application. However, co-regulation has emerged as a significant feature of contemporary regulation of the media, particularly in relation to video-on-demand (VOD). This article considers the various stages of consultation and implementation of the European Union's Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) in the United Kingdom. A proposal for a new approach to categorizing and analysing relevant statutory provisions and regulatory arrangements that pertain to audio-visual media including VOD is made. Other issues are explored, including methods of regulation, technological and organizational developments in the media industries, and the impact on community media and the film industry. It is argued that the AVMSD did not resolve all issues in relation to the scope of regulation, and that even the most recent developments in the launch of co-regulation highlight the diverse forms of media regulation now in force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Privacy is one of the key ethical restrictions for journalists. It is the ethical dilemma that most often, and certainly most contentiously, collides with the right to freedom of expression that is used as the rationale to underpin press freedom. The attempts by UK courts to determine this balance by developing the law of privacy through the law of confidence and the Human Rights Act, have attracted much attention and often condemnation by a UK media concerned that their freedom to publish popular, but intrusive, celebrity news might be more tightly controlled. Court cases won by celebrities have sparked outrage in the press as they have tightened the definition of confidence, so making intrusion in some cases more difficult. However, definitions of privacy are also being tightened by regulators, including the statutory broadcast regulators and the Press Complaints Commission (PCC; which covers press and many news Internet sites) following a number of important incidents requiring adjudication—many of which have received very little attention. Broadcasting has been more prominent with a couple of cases seizing the headlines, but the PCC has been working more quietly although just as importantly, defining new levels of privacy with a series of cases that will set the standard for photographs and reports concerning suicide, as well as privacy over health issues—all elements a good deal more central to standard reporting than their titles suggest. As the PCC is self-regulatory, the press it controls must either agree its rulings or risk making it unworkable; as doomed as its predecessor the Press Council. This study of its key judgements in this area over the past five years is therefore important since it is likely that these rulings will have far more effect on the future of reporting in the press and on the Internet than any of the much-criticised cases from the courts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Global Media Journal: Canadian Edition is the property of Global Media Journal: Canadian Edition and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The UK regulator Ofcom has held a Pilot of TV white space (TVWS) technology in the UK. On the basis of the results of this Pilot, Ofcom has varied its calculations of allowed white space device equivalent isotropically radiated powers (EIRP). Further, the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) 2015 has assigned 694‐790 MHz to mobile broadband on a co‐primary basis, in International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Region 1 (which includes the UK/EU). Fundamental observations on the effects of these changes on TVWS availability in the UK are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Media policy formation and outcomes can usefully be analyzed as the consequences of the interactions of key actors, including politicians, civil servants, regulatory bodies, media organizations and citizens. At different junctures some of these actors are more important than others, but outcomes cannot always be predicted accurately. With that approach in mind, this paper will consider how concentration of ownership issues have recently been approached in Britain and Canada. The paper will seek to consider the processes which have subsequently led to some impediments being placed in the way of media consolidation in both the U.K. and Canada, and will discuss whether or not turning points have been reached in media policy as a result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Radio spectrum licences are generally specified in terms of the power a holder is allowed to transmit. However, if licences become flexible, allowing change of use and technology, then this licensing approach could result in significant interference between users. A new approach is proposed termed “spectrum usage rights” (SURs) which restricts the interference a licence holder is allowed to cause rather than the power they are allowed to transmit. This approach is shown to protect users against interference while providing the maximum flexibility possible and its implementation is discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article considers the question of private sector pressure and its effect on the making of public policy. It argues that policy-makers sometimes do not consider all possible policy options due to lobbying by powerful interests. The Television Without Frontiers EU directive was significantly weakened as a result of such pressure she argues, to the detriment of public service broadcasting (PSB), particularly for children. She argues that pressure to ensure the survival of PSB can be brought to bear on policy-makers through such organizations as the Citizens Coalition for Public Service Broadcasting in the United Kingdom, and urges academics to engage with this and similar initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The review looks at the recent review of children's television broadcasting by the governmental regulator in the UK, Ofcom. It suggests that the research represents a valuable addition to the policy literature by filling the gap in previous research, particularly by providing an in-depth analysis of the economics of the sector. However, it questions the direct impact of the report on the subject matter if it is integrated (as proposed) into the more general review of Public Service Broadcasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The relationship between an incumbent telecommunications operator and those companies that access its network is often fraught. This is particularly true in respect of local loop unbundling (LLU), a key product in the broadband telecommunications market. OFCOM, the UK’s telecommunications regulator, recently conducted a major review of the industry that resulted in a new approach to tackling this relationship. This paper focuses on this new approach, which combined a new regulatory concept – equality of access – with the establishment of a mini-regulator focusing on local loop unbundling processes, and goes on to assess the extent to which the relationship has been improved. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Consumers have reaped real rewards from competition in the current generation of broadband services and Ofcom, like many regulators, wishes to maintain this competition. The emergence of next generation access (NGA) networks and technologies, however, challenges the viability of local loop unbundling (LLU), the wholesale access product which has done so much to enable competition in current generation broadband. This paper sets out some of the background to unbundling as a regulatory remedy and the challenges posed by the technology and economics of fibre. It goes on to consider ways in which Ofcom can seek to secure competition in NGA networks, so that consumers can continue to reap the rewards. In particular, the paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of wholesale access at the 'active' level, technical requirements of this form of 'active line access' (ALA) if it is to support innovation and competition, and what Ofcom and industry can do to ensure the widespread availability of products based on ALA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article assesses the strategies of BBC News as it repositions itself for the digital future, explores how impartiality is being redefined, evaluates the impact of technology-led strategies on newsgathering and notes the tensions between rival forces inside the BBC. The corporation is engaged in an internal upheaval of seismic proportions, as technological change accelerates and the largest ever round of job losses threatens. There is a titanic struggle between the technologists - who have been rebranded as über-divisional force Future Media and Technology - and the programme makers, who feel their role and resources have been cut to make way for the new platforms. In the FMT corner, its director Ashley Highfield is making apocalyptic announcements, characterized by BBC house newspaper Ariel as 'Get web savvy or we die', while programme executives are saying that the BBC needs to recognize and protect its core strengths in content provision, not pretend it can compete with the cyber-cities of Google and co. It's not future technology, it's here and now, they say, but it should not be allowed to override the values and objectives of their public service remit. This article is based on research carried out for the 'Spaces of the News' research project, one of five strands of the Goldsmiths Media Research Programme, Spaces, Connectivity and Control, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, which is designed to evaluate the social impact of changes in communication technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reviewing the BBC ‘Impartiality’ review and the OFCOM report on the future of news the piece argues that impartiality remains a vital tool of maintaining standards of public service news, which in the end have to be objective. Sustaining journalism that reveals new knowledge is the problem and vital to the maintainance of democratic discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Office of Communications (Ofcom), established by an Act of Parliament in 2003, is a new sector wide regulator in the UK, required to further the interests of what has been termed the ‘citizen-consumer’. Using a critical discursive approach, this article charts the unfolding debate among stakeholders in the new regulatory environment as they attempt to define the interests of citizens, consumers and the citizen-consumer. Ofcom has preferred to align the terms ‘citizen’ and ‘consumer’ so that the interests of both may be met, as far as possible, through an economic agenda of market regulation. Among civil society groups, there is growing concern that the citizen interest is becoming marginalized as the consumer discourse becomes more widespread. We conclude by advocating the development of a positive definition of the citizen interests, distinct from the consumer interests, for the media and communications environment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The move toward digital switchover increases content and introduces interactive services available through the television. UK legislation advocates universal access and equitable provision of services, across all platforms and equipment, particularly for ‘vulnerable’ groups. However, key aspects of usability and accessibility have been overlooked by those responsible for encouraging this new infrastructure’s inclusive development. Aspects of previous interactive television provision and developments in web accessibility appear to have been ignored, along with findings from relevant user-centred research and even from specifically commissioned reports. This paper will identify these issues and discuss their impact on the inclusiveness of DTV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The British Labour government's media and cultural policies since 1997 are analysed as aspects of public policy. This allows assessment of the media and cultural policies of a supposedly centre-left government in a conjuncture marked by neo-liberalism, globalisation and the continuing growth of the cultural industries. An outline of guiding assumptions about public policy is provided, including the importance of the balance between social forces and structured inequality, but also the assumption that public policy operates with a certain amount of autonomy. Labour's project is discussed as a particular hybrid of neo-liberalism, conservatism and social democracy, distinctive from the New Right neo-liberalism of the 1980s. An important element of this political hybrid is Labour's profound ambivalence about the public domain. Developments in media and cultural policy are then analysed in these terms, in particular the performance of the new communications regulator Ofcom (Office of Communications) and its use of the concept of “citizen-consumer”. Reference is made to Labour's strategic alliances with key social institutions, including key cultural-industry businesses. A final section examines how we might understand centre-left public policy in the era of neo-liberalism, and a variety of positions are offered about Labour's record in government and the constraints it has faced. While such fundamental political dilemmas are not resolved here, conclusions are drawn regarding the lessons of Labour's policies for the analysis of media and cultural policy, and of public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the contrast between Oftel''s statements on the importance of regulatory forbearance and withdrawal and its considerable difficulties in implementing them. The record of Oftel is contrasted with the regulatory withdrawal achieved by Ofgem in UK electricity and gas regulation and the paper discusses whether and how far structural unbundling might alleviate the need for conduct regulation in the telecom industries. The Oftel experience suggests the need for a clear strategy, including structural options, to implement regulatory withdrawal with some mechanism in place that forces regulators to review regularly and systematically whether or not continued conduct regulation is necessary. Such a mechanism has been proposed for Ofcom in the UK Communications Act 2003. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The BBC is active in an increasing number of markets. In some cases the BBC enters the market using licence fee income; in others its commercial operations have linkages with licence-fee activities—for example, by provision of resources for programme making, joint funding of programmes, trailing of commercial products, and so on. These situations raise serious competition issues. The authors conclude that theory and evidence suggest exceptional risks that anticompetitive practices by the BBC will discourage private sector initiative and investment in broadcasting and related markets and recommend strengthened ex ante regulation of the BBC by OFCOM. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Using the United Kingdom as a case study, this article examines the application of competition regulation to the contemporary television industry. The article begins with a brief overview of the nature of competition law. It then moves on to consider the growing importance attached to competition regulation within the UK television industry. Using a range of recent examples, the main part of the article analyses the application of competition regulation to UK television broadcasting in four main areas, namely: (1) mergers and acquisitions; (2) monopoly/market dominance; (3) cartels; and (4) state aid and public service broadcasting. The article highlights two key points: first, the difficulty of applying competition law principles to the television industry, most notably in relation to key concepts, such as 'market definition' and the 'abuse' of market dominance; and, second, the inherently political nature of competition law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]