The Labour government is beginning to assemble a substantial programme of media policy. BBC Charter renewal is under way. A new Media Green Paper considers the future of Public Service Media and the prominence of trusted news online. The Amplify Local Media Action Plan addresses the sustainability of local journalism. Ofcom is being encouraged to…
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Ofcom has now published its final Licensing Priorities for Broadcast Radio statement following the consultation earlier in 2026. Better Media argued that future radio licensing should place greater emphasis on access, plurality, competition and the sustainable growth of smaller, independent and community-based services. Several parts of Ofcom’s final position closely reflect those points. Small-Scale DAB…
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Better Media’s response to the government’s Watch This Space consultation starts from a simple proposition: the future of UK media should not be designed solely around the preservation of established institutions. It should be built around the information, cultural and democratic capabilities that citizens and communities need. The submission welcomes the consultation’s recognition that technological…
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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…
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It’s been a little while since our last update, as I (that is to say, Rowan Gavin, Better Media Campaign Coordinator) was away for about half of October. In lieu of that month’s update, we’re rolling Oct and Nov together into this edition. You can read the last update here. This update will be largely…
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As summer gives way to autumn, there are a number of notable shifts taking place in the UK’s media landscape. As usual, you’re with Rowan Gavin, Better Media Campaign Coordinator, as I look back through the last month of our work. If you want to go further back, you can read the last update here.…
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The following is the full text of the response Better Media submitted to Part 1 of Ofcom’s ‘Review of Local Media in the UK’. Credit to our member Rob Watson for doing the majority of the work preparing this response. It was submitted on September 2nd, 2024. This is Better Media’s response to Ofcom’s Local…
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Welcome to the last monthly Better Media update of the summer. As usual, you’re with Rowan Gavin, Better Media Campaign Coordinator, as I look back through the last month of our work. If you want to go further back, you can read the last update here. Participating in policy campaigns This month I want to…
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Welcome to another monthly update from Better Media. After a rainy June, the sun is coming out at last – but the change of government is not providing as sunny an outlook as we might have hoped when it comes to media issues. You can read the last update here. This month I’ll be focusing…
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The following is an open letter to Angela Rayner, the new Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, and Lisa Nandy, the new Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport of the United Kingdom, written by Better Media member Rob Watson for Decentered Media on 10th July 2024. We republish it here…
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