Media Reform Coalition

Polling suggests the majority of the public wants the press to be regulated independently. Read More here: zurl.co/UbMza

Polling conducted by Opinium of 2050 people

Whose Beeb? | Tom Chivers | Substack Analysis, commentary and archiving the BBC Royal Charter review, focusing on universality, democratic accountability and the future of public media. Click to read "Whose Beeb?", by Tom Chivers, a Subs...

We’re told the BBC belongs to us. The truth is we have no power over how 'our BBC' is run, governed or funded.

Subscribe to Whose Beeb? - a newsletter about the politics & policy of BBC Charter review - for the latest news & analysis on how these debates are shaping the future of UK public media:

How do you design public media for a country that does not (yet) exist?

A new blog post by Dr Phil Ramsey and Dr Roddy Flynn, about their report on what a new public service media organisation in a United Ireland could look like: www.mediareform.org.uk/blog/psm-uni...

Are we settling for the status quo with the Government’s Charter review—or missing an opportunity for real change?
Prof Lee Edwards LSE & Media Reform Coalition dissects the green paper in this thought-provoking episode
🎧 Listen podfollow.com/beebwatch
#BBC #Podcast #MediaReform #PublicService #LSE

We set out a number of recommendations and propose a new institutional and operational structure to enable:

➡️ Stronger constitutional foundations
➡️ Reformed, more independent governance
➡️ Embedding citizen participation to strengthen resilience

Our BBC: A blueprint for a more independent and future-proofed BBC Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

Detailed proposals from @demos-uk.bsky.social for democratic reform of the BBC, preserving & expanding its role as critical "information infrastructure"

Its ideas for a citizens' panel, a 'public lock' & independent funding merit serious consideration in the government's ongoing BBC Charter review

‘A Victim All Over Again’: The Mail Trial and the Murders of Stephen Lawrence and Daniel Morgan Peter Jukes looks at how an ongoing High Court case plunges us back over thirty years to two murders in south‑east London and to a nexus of corrupt police officers and private investigators

"These horrific murders may seem like ancient history. But they are at the centre of astonishing legal claims against [the Daily Mail], which is currently bidding to increase its hold on the British media by buying the Telegraph group." @bylinetimes.bsky.social bylinetimes.com/2026/01/19/a...

Media Reform Coalition Media Reform coordinates the work of advocacy groups campaigning to protect the public interest in light of the Leveson Inquiry and Communications Review.

Handing Lord Rothermere almost 50% of the UK's newspaper market would be a deathblow to media plurality - the Daily Mail/Telegraph takeover must be blocked.

We have written to the Culture Secretary, urging the Government to formally intervene in the deal: www.mediareform.org.uk/blog/dmgt-tm...

A blueprint for permanent decline - read the MRC's analysis of the Green Paper on BBC Charter renewal:

💷 Adverts & paywalls will destroy BBC's public service mission
🏛️ No serious reform to broken political appointments
🚫 An undemocratic tickbox consultation

www.mediareform.org.uk/blog/dcms-bb...

Media Reform Coalition Media Reform coordinates the work of advocacy groups campaigning to protect the public interest in light of the Leveson Inquiry and Communications Review.

Read more about our campaign for a democratic BBC Charter review and joint letter - with 20 leading UK democracy and media groups + 35 leading academics, writers & broadcasters - on the MRC website: www.mediareform.org.uk/key-issues/b...

BBC Charter review must not ignore the views of audiences - Gvmt has to give UK public a democratic say on BBC's future

@scotnational.bsky.social report on our joint letter to Lisa Nandy with 20 groups incl. @campaignforthearts.org @vlvuk.bsky.social @involveuk.bsky.social @sortitionnow.bsky.social

"Reclaiming ‘Our BBC’: The MRC case for a democratic Charter review" A guest blog from Dr Tom Chivers of the Media Reform Coalition

Unless these historic debates on the BBC give the public real power to decide its future, even well-intentioned reforms will lack the democratic legitimacy the BBC needs from its audiences.

Read our vice-chair Tom Chivers in a guest blog for @publicinterestnews.org.uk on BBC Charter renewal:

The BBC Charter review should be a democratic public debate about the BBC's future.

But the government's consultation launched this week doesn't give the public a genuine role & is fixated on replacing public funding with advertising or subscription

Our vice-chair Dr Tom Chivers spoke to LBC News:

The Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has told Newsnight that the BBC's Charter review will begin "within the next few weeks".

This is an historic, once-in-a-generation debate. It must not repeat the undemocratic gimmicks of past reviews & instead give the public real power over the BBC's future:

As exposed by the @mediareformuk.bsky.social, not only do just three press barons control 90% of newspaper circulation, but now tech oligarchs are expanding their hold over digital news. This is, to put it mildly, bad.

bsky.app/profile/medi...

Media Reform Coalition Media Reform coordinates the work of advocacy groups campaigning to protect the public interest in light of the Leveson Inquiry and Communications Review.

Find out more about the excessive levels of media ownership & market concentration in national and local newspapers, TV, radio and digital platforms: www.mediareform.org.uk/media-owners...

Thanks to @equalitytrust.bsky.social for featuring our Who Owns The UK Media? research in their landmark report on concentrated elite power. A bad situation getting worse with Mail/Telegraph and Comcast/ITV takeovers.

Read Guardian coverage & the full report: equalitytrust.org.uk/evidence-bas...

Are you happy to let aristocrats and tech billionaires speak for you? If so, you'll love our new report in the Guardian on money, the media, and the House of Lords 👇

Save Our BBC: Give the public a real say The BBC isn't perfect, but we must come together to make it better and stronger. We must use the upcoming Royal Charter review to protect our BBC for us, the British public. For too long, the public h...

The BBC belongs to all of us, but the public never get a say in major decisions about the BBC’s future. This has to change if public media is going to survive

5,000 people have signed our @38degrees.bsky.social petition in just a few hours - add your voice & demand a democratic Charter review:

It is up to the Culture Secretary to issue an intervention on public interest grounds, which leaves any review to block the deal highly exposed to political & corporate pressure. Shamefully the UK does not have any red line caps on media ownership. www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/4...

Our Mutual Friend: The BBC in the Digital Age The upcoming BBC Charter Review is an opportunity to transform the BBC into a public service mutual, founded on a genuinely democratic relationship with the public.

📺 Following resignations over a misleadingly edited Trump speech by the #BBC, there's growing calls for systemic reform as we approach the Charter Review - with @mediareformuk.bsky.social and @psbfuture.bsky.social sharing their ideas 👉 britishbroadcastingchallenge.com?mc_cid=487de...

There is no way to dress this up: the UK's largest newspaper publisher wants to control an even larger share of our media.

Our highly concentrated media is already a disaster for democracy - the Telegraph takeover would make it even worse.

Daily Mail owner strikes £500m deal to buy Telegraph titles Acquisition likely to trigger in-depth investigation by regulator after agreement between DMGT and Redbird IMI

If Lord Rothermere's DMG Media takes control of the Telegraph, he would own nearly 50% of the UK's national newspaper industry - and a huge share of all online news reach.

Britain's media is rapidly being Orbanised: government must act to protect media plurality www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...

Media Reform Coalition Media Reform coordinates the work of advocacy groups campaigning to protect the public interest in light of the Leveson Inquiry and Communications Review.

Speaking at an event this afternoon about the state of our media.

Who owns our media? A very few corporations, as @mediareformuk.bsky.social regularly charts.

And that's a big problem for #democracy
www.mediareform.org.uk/media-owners...

Our Mutual Friend: The BBC in the Digital Age The upcoming BBC Charter Review is an opportunity to transform the BBC into a public service mutual, founded on a genuinely democratic relationship with the public.

Davie's resignation is yet more proof: The BBC is an unaccountable, undemocratic institution - captured by political appointees, cowed by the press & unrepresentative of the public.

We need an alternative. Read our @cmmonwealth.bsky.social proposals for a mutualised BBC, controlled directly by us

The BBC has never had a Director-General who so actively and thoroughly degraded the BBC's services & its distinctly public purpose.

Tim Davie wrecked local radio, flattened UK news, abandoned the BBC's universality & allowed the licence fee to become venture capital for selling off British content

YouTube video by Byline TV After The Hack #7 | with Byline Times & Impress

The final episode of ITV's The Hack aired last night. It promised to give the NOTW hacking scandal the 'Mr Bates' treatment.

So what went wrong?

Watch @peterjukes.bsky.social @nakedpolitics.bsky.social @femi-oluwole.bsky.social & MRC's Tom Chivers discuss this and more on After The Hack!

YouTube video by Byline TV After The Hack #7 | with Byline Times & Impress

We finally have the last edition of the Hack, out now!

Thanks for those of you who've gone on the journey with our companion piece to ITV's the Hack.

It's been a fun ride, and we know that a better media is possible

@hackedoff.bsky.social @mediareformuk.bsky.social

youtu.be/KnJNLrJC5Yc

YouTube video by Byline TV After The Hack #7 | with Byline Times & Impress

The final episode of ITV's The Hack aired last night. It promised to give the NOTW hacking scandal the 'Mr Bates' treatment.

So what went wrong?

Watch @peterjukes.bsky.social @nakedpolitics.bsky.social @femi-oluwole.bsky.social & MRC's Tom Chivers discuss this and more on After The Hack!

YouTube video by Byline TV After The Hack #5 | with Byline Times & Impress

🚨 Episode 6 Is LIVE! 🚨

Watch our latest instalment of the After The Hack review show, with @bylinetimes.bsky.social & @impressorg.bsky.social!

Watch here: youtu.be/pnJ-rBV36Ig

@hackedoff.bsky.social @peterjukes.bsky.social @itvx.com @davidtennantdaily.bsky.social @nakedpolitics.bsky.social