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Labour’s weird response to the Law Commission
By Steven | March 28, 2013
News Media Standards Authority: good idea! says Labour. Just make sure there are no political 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.
Um, yeah. Except that:
(a) One of the fundamental principles of the Law Commission’s report is that there should be no political interference in the NMSA. They discuss this repeatedly. They recommend a rigorously independent process for setting up the NMSA and appointing its management and its complaints body so that there is no interference by politicians or the media industry. So why labour this point, Labour?
(b) Where was this principle when Labour was passing the Broadcasting Act, which provides for the political appointment of Broadcasting Standards Authority members?
(c) Is there really one scrap of evidence that this political appointment process has translated into the BSA’s decisions? The Law Commission didn’t think so. I don’t think so, and I’ve kept an eye out for it.
Topics: Broadcasting Standards Authority, General | No Comments »
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