The Government have today published a Green Paper that sets out a new strategic direction for the Government’s media policy.
At its best, our media provides the basis of a cohesive country and a healthy democracy. It has the power to advance shared understanding, shared facts, and shared experiences which help people trust and understand one another. It is this common ground on which a country is built.
However, like so many of our other civic spaces, it is facing fundamental challenges which are putting these benefits at risk. Television is undergoing a profound transformation, having moved from a system of limited broadcast channels to an environment of “content everywhere”, where the largest players are global streaming services, video sharing platforms, and social media companies. Our domestic broadcasters, including our public service media (PSM) providers, are fighting to be seen in an increasingly competitive and fragmented market. People are increasingly accessing news online, rather than through more regulated spaces like their TV sets. This is weakening the ability of trustworthy news providers to reach audiences and shape an informed public debate.
We are consulting on a comprehensive set of proposals to ensure our media, and television in particular, can continue to play its vitally important role in our society and our democracy.
First, we are proposing three interventions to support an informed society. We will explore legislative options to require social media to make trustworthy news providers—which could include national and local news publishers and broadcasters—easily discoverable. This is crucial for countering misinformation, especially during times of crisis. We will also explore a new duty on PSM providers to develop and report on media literacy strategies, leveraging their high level of public trust and reach to help people critically assess the information they encounter. Further, we will consider mechanisms to support co-ordinated media literacy efforts across public service media, and the wider media sector.
Secondly, building on the extensive stakeholder engagement already undertaken, we will consult on measures to ensure audiences can continue to enjoy universal access to trusted and high-quality television content. The UK television market is shifting from traditional broadcast platforms such as digital terrestrial TV (DTT) to internet-delivered viewing (IPTV). The Government are committed to maintaining DTT until at least the end of 2034, but we are now consulting on what will come after this. To do this, we will work with industry and audience groups to design a package of support that helps audiences transition to IPTV services, ensuring that no one is left behind. This support will aim to address challenges around affordability and accessibility, enabling viewers to make the switch with confidence and benefit from the enhanced functionality and wider choice that IPTV services can offer. Alongside this, we will bring forward a plan for the managed withdrawal of DTT services. Final decisions will be taken in response to the consultation and set out in a White Paper.