ITC and BSC Launch News Study

The Independent Television Commission (ITC) and the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC) are launching a major new study into TV news and current affairs intended to establish a “framework” for broadcasters.

The broadcasting regulators have appointed Professor Ian Hargreaves, director of journalism studies at Cardiff University, to advise then on news and related issues and plan to use their findings to influence the Communications Bill, which is expected later in the year.

According to Patricia Hodgson, chief executive of the ITC, consumers see television as their main source of news. She said: “This brings with it a heavy responsibility since accurate, impartial, accessible news is the lifeblood of true democracy, the pre-requisite of active citizenship.”

She added; “Commercial pressures to move news out of peak time schedules in pursuit of audiences and evidence that young viewers often prefer to watch something else pose the biggest challenge to broadcasters and legislators.”

Hodgson called on broadcasters to agree a way forward in terms of news provision and said that broadcasters need to have ambition for news and associated political programming in order to move away from “stale agendas.”

The findings of the study, which is intended to “put the right framework and incentives in place to help the broadcaster deliver,” will be announced in the autumn.

ITC: 020 7255 3000 www.itc.org.uk BSC: 020 7233 0544 www.bsc.org.uk

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