The UK’s Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has addressed concerns over the challenges faced by public service media.
In a wide-ranging speech at the Royal Television Society (RTS) Cambridge Convention yesterday, Lisa Nandy MP spoke about the often fractious state of political debate both in the UK and abroad, identifying the need for a strong public service media (PSM) as a foundation for enabling “civilised debate about the future of our country.
“We already have the foundations to build that future. In Britain we have a unique strength, a strength that is the envy of people across the world, that underpins our whole broadcasting ecosystem,” she added.
“That is our public service media, which provides us with higher levels of trust, higher quality debate, greater intolerance for corruption and shared national moments—in short, one of the most valuable tools we have to empower our citizens to help us understand one another and make our own informed choices—whatever those choices may be.
Referring to PSM as one of Britain’s “unique strengths” providing higher levels of trust, higher quality debate and shared national moments, Nandy said the country’s PSM is “one of the most valuable tools we have to empower our citizens to help us understand one another and make our own informed choices—whatever those choices may be.”
Nandy cited an Ofcom warning that PSM in the UK is under threat, facing funding challenges, changes in viewer habits and regulation that has lagged behind recent revolutionary changes in the media space. While the Media Act has ensured PSM has prominence on Smart TVs, the government wants to go further. “As video viewing moves away from broadcasters’ own services and towards third party platforms we support Ofcom’s recommendation that Public Service Media content should be prominent on major video sharing platforms and on fair commercial terms. If we need to regulate we will,” she said.
Following an Ofcom consultation on politicians presenting news programmes, the culture secretary said the government was awaiting the findings “with interest.” Highlighting a blurring of the lines between content providers and content platforms, Nandy added that the government would act to ensure regulation was fit for the current era.
On the subject of AI, Nandy told the audience, “We will work with you all to achieve our shared goals: that AI empowers and informs and does not fuel mis and disinformation. And to support the creation and dissemination of high-quality news, not undermine it. We know news and media already excel and make up around two-thirds of AI commercial licensing agreements. This is really, really welcome, and I’ll continue to work closely with Liz Kendall to ensure we build a framework that works for our world-class creatives and publishers while supporting responsible innovation and growth in the UK’s AI sector.”
Turning specifically to the BBC, Nandy acknowledged the absolutely fundamental role of the BBC in the creative industries and said the government was determined to ensure it remains relevant to audiences through the Charter Review, which aims to futureproof the institution “well into the next century,” exploring how it can be funded sustainably to continue to deliver.
Closing her speech, Nandy encouraged wide participation in a Green Paper to be launched later this year, asking for everyone to be “part of the conversation.”
