January 2025 Update
Welcome to 2025 and to the Better Media January update. Rowan Gavin here, Better Media’s outgoing Campaign Coordinator. The new year marks a time of change in many ways, and we are not exempt!
This will be the last update I write for Better Media. Due to both Better Media’s financial situation and my own circumstances, I will be departing my Campaign Coordinator role when my current contract runs out at the end of this month. It’s been a pleasure and a privilege working with the other members and coordinators of this organisation for the past two and a half years, and I look forward to seeing what else they get up to in the future!
Given this somewhat landmark occasion, this month’s update will take a slightly different form. First, I’ll be indulgently reflecting on a couple of highlights from the work I’ve been involved with here since 2022. Then I’ll look forward to some current and upcoming events on the horizon in the world of media. And to wrap up, I’ll be recommending a few of my favourite ways to keep up with media sector goings-on across the post-social media internet.
Better Media Highlights
My favourite part of this role has been learning about the history of Better Media, its predecessor the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom (CPBF) and the historic connection between trade unions and media reform movements.
A particular highlight was the rediscovery in 2023 of the film ‘Why Their News Is Bad News’, made 40 years earlier by the CPBF for the BBC’s Open Door series. It was a delight to encounter a campaign film of such a different kind from the ones we see now in the era of internet video – and one hosted by Julie Andrews and Julie Christie, no less! It was also a potent reminder of how much those of us involved in both trade union struggles and the fights for media reform can learn from the past, and from resistance to the Thatcher government in particular.
That history was a strong motivator in working to try and reestablish the connections between the modern media reform movement and this country’s increasingly active trade unions during my time in this role. While that work wasn’t as successful as we might have hoped, it has been a privilege to get to work with and talk to many renowned and committed trade unionists over the past couple of years.
Looking Ahead
You may have missed it during all last week’s international news, but the 22nd of January marked a landmark moment for UK media. News Group Newspapers apologised to Prince Harry and Tom Watson for authorising unlawful action against them by journalists and PIs between 1996 and 2011. Many commentators have expressed frustration and confusion about this case not reaching trial – in some ways that is a win for News Group, whose dirty laundry will receive slightly less of an airing, but in others this admission of wrongdoing is very real and could have real consequences for future leglislation.
The claimants have not said publicly what they plan to do with the damages they will receive, which are reported to exceed £10M – seems to me that putting them towards improving press regulation or supporting accountable independent media would be the best move, if the Prince wants to continue positioning himself as a public servant.
Elsewhere, the dispute over the sale of the Observer continues, with the NUJ announcing in the past week that “significant progress has been made in negotiations”. The Guardian editorial about the News Group settlement doesn’t sit quite at ease with its actions around the sale. In their own words, “the pattern of irresponsibility in vast media organisations and the sense of impunity they enjoy as a function of wealth and power is surely more relevant than ever”. Just how relevant that pattern will be to the Guardian Media Group’s own actions remains to be seen.
As we move through the January doldrums into 2025 proper, there are some regulatory changes on the horizon that it’s worth keeping abreast of. Ofcom are still in the process of finalising their plan of work for 2025 – Better Media members can read more about the proposals, and the response prepared by our member Rob Watson, on our forums. DCMS will also soon be announcing its much-anticipated Local Media Strategy. I for one am looking forward to reading the findings of the PINF Local News Commission, which are set to be published just ahead of the DCMS Strategy and may be quite influential in informing it.
Staying Informed
As the owners of the largest social media platforms continue to alienate many of their users with their bizarre actions, and those platforms themselves become increasingly unusable in attempts to wring every drop of profit and data out of us, many of us are changing how we discover and consume information online.
We may no longer benefit from the idealised ‘Twitter-eye view’ of the world, in which all global events are accompanied by a conveniently accessible mass commentary which we can approximate to public opinion. But thankfully there are many other ways to stay informed. Groups and individuals across the divides of border, community and language are building new media infrastructures that they have control over themselves; some have been doing this work for decades already.
Here are a few of the sources that I’ve found valuable for remaining informed on media matters during my time in this role:
- Decentered Media: Blog on media developments, local and national, run out of Leicester by our member Rob Watson.
- MediaNorth: Long-running monthly publication from our sibling organisation CPBF North about media news, with a focus on the North of England and on trade union struggles past and present.
- PINF: The Public Interest News Foundation’s Newsletter is a great way to keep up with the activities of one of the more influential current campaign groups in the media reform space.
- Real Media: A one-person outlet based in London, providing important original reporting about direct action campaigning on a variety of issues, and legislative attempts to disproportionately punish those campaigners.
- The Scottish Beacon: A pioneering federation of independent news publications north of the border – their newsletter is a fascinating showcase of a variety of approaches to delivering small-scale community-focused news.
- Investigate Europe: Look no further for some of the best investigative reporting from the continent, including EU-wide stories, national investigations and local insights.
- Who Targets Me: A campaign around online political advertising whose excellent newsletter ‘Full Disclosure’ is rich with information about how political parties’ operations are changing in the era of online media.
It’s been an education and a pleasure working with Better Media for the past 30-odd months. I wish the organisation and all our allies and supporters all the success for the future! You can still contact the Better Media team on contact@bettermedia.uk going forward, and as always you can support the organisation’s work by becoming a member over on OpenCollective.