Communications Bill (Nov 2002) and its Effects on the Press.

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Communications Bill (Nov 2002) and its Effects on the Press

In November 2002 the government unveiled an update to their Communications Bill which was to be met with mixed feelings by broadcasters and journalists alike. In this essay I will examine the extent to which it has affected print journalism and the press, by looking at the views of those who know what it will do, journalists and media proprietors themselves and the MP's involved in composing the bill.

The main worry surrounding print journalists and the press is that the new regulator of communications brought in by the government, 'Ofcom', will be a stranglehold on the things that are actually allowed to be written and therefore totally dismissing the concept of a 'free press'. Ofcom exists now to protect the interests of the consumers, according to the bill, but it is uncertain as to how far they will go to do this in terms of restricting what newspapers can say. The feeling is that, with Ofcom being a government regulatory body and therefore working closely with them, the government now has the freedom to control everything that goes out in newspapers to their favour, therefore making it