Jowell Responds To Bill Questioning At Conference

The Government’s Communications Bill is “one of the most consulted-on pieces of legislation in living memory” claimed MP Tessa Jowell yesterday. The Minister for Culture, Media and Sport was answering questions on the first day of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ European Media Summit in London.

She stated that, starting with the White Paper and now at the Draft Bill stage, the Government’s guiding principles have been to ensure a competitive media environment,to ensure flexibility and to safeguard content. She was then pressed as to how the Government would deal with the usual controversial areas – overseas ownership and the BBC’s anti-competitive position.

Jowell’s response was that it in opening up the market, it was inevitable that Rupert Murdoch and powerful American players could take more ownership in the UK, but that this would be subject to stringent content laws. Rules concerning the “localness” of UK media have been increased, meaning that global media owners would be investing further in UK content and production.

Again, the minister reiterated that the BBC would be subject to a more “heavy handed” qualitative monitoring of its content by Ofcom than commercial broadcasters, and its commercial activity (such as BBC News 24) would be considered on a case by case basis.

When questioned about policy relating to media owners owning both distribution (Satellite, DTD or Cable) and content (so called “vertical integration”), Jowell stated that the alternative would be the evolution of collaborative cartels – with alliances between distribution and content providers. This, she said, would not be an efficient way to promote investment in the platforms. The government’s position follows the US lead in which distribution and content have been allowed to come together again to allow for the scale that is needed.

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