Clare
CURRAN
Spokesperson for Broadcasting and IT and Communications
Andrew
Little
Spokesperson for Justice

26 March 2013 MEDIA STATEMENT

Consistent Standards Good, But Keep Politicians Away From Appointments

Consistent ethical standards for all forms of media are necessary but politicians should be kept away from appointing complaints bodies and setting terms of reference, said Labour’s Broadcasting, Communications and IT spokesperson Clare Curran and Justice spokesperson Andrew Little.

The Law Commission’s report ‘The News Media Meets ‘New Media’ released today recommends establishing a new body to be called the News Media Standards Authority.

“At the moment there are multiple bodies to deal with if you have a complaint about traditional media and it depends on which medium is the publisher,” Labour’s Broadcasting and Communications and IT spokesperson Clare Curran said.

“New media isn’t covered by any standards body and it raises the absurd situation that a breach of standards in one medium can be totally unchallengeable in another medium.

“The main issue is one of consistency and the Law Commission is right to highlight this in their review.”

“As a matter of public confidence the public needs to know there is good oversight of media standards,” Labour’s spokesperson on Justice Andrew Little said.

“There is a healthy tension between the media and politicians which is good for democracy and means it isn’t appropriate for politicians to dictate the terms of any oversight.

“The Press Council model works reasonably well in the print media and should be able to work in other forms of media. But at the least there may need to be a statutory obligation on media outlets to establish a form of suitable oversight.”

Ms Curran and Mr Little urged the Government to take the Law Commission report seriously and develop a response as a matter of priority.

They will be consulting with media outlets and representative groups about the issues raised.

ENDS

© Scoop Media