TV and Radio Compliance Consultant
The gates to RT broadcasts in the UK are now closed. With unprecedented speed the UK media regulator moved today to revoke the two British licences of the Russian international broadcaster RT. Ofcom stripped RT of the licences with immediate… Continue
This week’s Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin (443) has confirmed the trend. The Bulletin has been on a diet. Compared to Bulletins before the pandemic, there have been fewer Standards decisions published – whether breaches of the Broadcasting Code or other rules,… Continue
Margarita Simonyan, the feisty Editor-in-chief of RT (formerly Russia Today), may increasingly be having second thoughts about starting a legal challenge to Ofcom over its application of the due impartiality rules. In the first ever ruling by the Court of… Continue
A month ago Piers Morgan gave the thumbs up to Ofcom’s high profile ruling clearing him of breaching the Broadcasting Code over his comments about Meghan Markle on ITV’s Good Morning Britain. He acclaimed it as a ringing endorsement of… Continue
The vile racist online abuse directed at penalty takers Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after England’s defeat in the Euros final has focussed much needed attention again on the government’s Online Safety Bill, published on 12 May. Most… Continue
Ofcom no longer has a place to hide. It must soon take sides in the increasingly divisive “culture wars” in the UK. This is because the regulator must shortly take a decision on the high profile complaint by Meghan Markle,… Continue
This Christmas all British broadcasters can breathe a sigh of relief. Ofcom finally published (18 December 2020) their new rules placing new obligations on TV and radio channels to look after adults in their programmes – like tragic Steve Dymond… Continue
If broadcasters needed yet another stern warning about the grave dangers of transmitting ‘confessions’ by individuals without carrying out reasonable checks first, then Ofcom has provided it. The regulator has upheld a complaint by a Qatari intelligence officer, Hamad Al-Hammadi… Continue
Last week EU Commission President, Ursula Van Der Leyen, made her most optimistic comments yet on the Brexit trade talks. But as her mask, and the covid lockdowns being imposed across Europe, underline the preeminent focus of European governments is… Continue