Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has announced plans to broaden the scope of the UK’s media mergers regime, updating it for the digital age to reflect modern news consumption habits and better protect media freedom and plurality.
The plans will allow for greater scrutiny in the public interest of deals to purchase UK online news publications and news magazines that might adversely impact accurate reporting, freedom of expression and media plurality; widening the scope of the regime beyond television, radio and print newspapers as it presently stands.
Currently the media mergers regime set out in the Enterprise Act 2002 allows the Culture Secretary to intervene in mergers and acquisitions of broadcasters (defined as services which require a licence under the Broadcasting Act 1996), as well as UK daily and Sunday print newspapers, and local periodical newspapers, which mainly circulate in the UK.
“Since the media mergers regime came into force more than 20 years ago, our laws haven’t kept pace with technology and evolving news consumption habits,” explains Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy. “As people increasingly get their news online, we need a regime that is future-proof. That’s why I’m proposing further reforms to protect the availability of accurate, high-quality news from a variety of sources, ensuring media freedom continues to be upheld.”
According to Ofcom’s annual report on news consumption in the UK, nearly a quarter of UK adults (22%) access news via print newspapers, increasing to 34% when including their online platforms.
The consultation also proposes bringing news publications circulated on a weekly or monthly basis – such as The Economist or Prospect – in scope of the regime to ensure the legislation is fit for purpose and accurately reflects how people consume news; given daily, local, and Sunday publications are already included.
A six-week consultation is now underway.
