Media Reform Coalition

Parliament has a vital role in opening BBC Charter Review to the public.

Yet 4 months in to the review & with the DMCS consultation finished, parliament's media Committees have not yet announced inquiries.

We've written to the Chairs of the Commons and Lords committees requesting more information:

Media Reform Coalition Media Reform coordinates the work of advocacy groups campaigning to protect the public interest in light of the Leveson Inquiry and Communications Review.

And our Public Lock appears in @mediareformuk.bsky.social’s open collection of policy proposals, the Alternative Green Paper:

www.mediareform.org.uk/bbc-alternat...

📢 Upcoming Webinar

📺 #BBC #CharterReview: The Alternative Green Paper
📅 3 March 2026 | 5–6.30pm

What should the future of the BBC look like? Join us for expert insights and debate on public service broadcasting in a changing media landscape.

🎟️ Register: lse.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

#MediaPolicy

Media Reform Coalition Media Reform coordinates the work of advocacy groups campaigning to protect the public interest in light of the Leveson Inquiry and Communications Review.

Today @mediareformuk.bsky.social launches its Alternative Green Paper; a compilation of proposals for radical BBC reform from civil society, campaign groups, media experts & members of the public. www.mediareform.org.uk/bbc-alternat...

Register for tonight's Zoom meeting to hear about a range of BBC reform proposals, join the discussion & submit your own ideas to the Alternative Green Paper on BBC Charter review: lse.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

TONIGHT 5pm: The launch of the Alternative Green Paper, a public collection of radical proposals for reforming the BBC.

Join the MRC with @labourlewis.bsky.social, @vlvuk.bsky.social, @demos-uk.bsky.social, @equityuk.bsky.social & more for this crucial debate on the BBC's future. Link in next post:

A few of us were at this event and, well, yes, this just about sums it up.

The £546m (and growing) question BBC bosses believe getting more people to pay a smaller licence fee can save its future finances - do the numbers add up?

The TV licence fee is a failed and faltering way to fund the BBC. Yet BBC execs and Government ministers resist exploring a radically new funding model

In the latest Whose Beeb?, Dr Tom Chivers looks at why tinkering at the edges won't save the BBC's future finances:

Early Day Motion 2701: BBC Charter Review Motion text reads: I have put forward a parliamentary motion calling on the Government to give Parliament and the British public an active, direct and democratic role in deciding the BBC’s future. The changing nature of global politics and technology means renewed public service broadcasting can play a vital role to play in strengthening democracy.

I have put forward a parliamentary motion calling for Parliament and the British public to have an active, direct and democratic role in deciding the BBC’s future.

@mediareformuk.bsky.social

The government's official probe into the Daily Mail/Telegraph takeover is a critical test of our democracy.

The deal would give Lord Rothermere control over almost *50%* of national print and 1/8th of online news reach - it must be stopped: www.mediareform.org.uk/blog/dmgt-tm...

Polling suggests the majority of the public wants the press to be regulated independently. Read More here: zurl.co/UbMza

Polling conducted by Opinium of 2050 people

Whose Beeb? | Tom Chivers | Substack Analysis, commentary and archiving the BBC Royal Charter review, focusing on universality, democratic accountability and the future of public media. Click to read "Whose Beeb?", by Tom Chivers, a Subs...

We’re told the BBC belongs to us. The truth is we have no power over how 'our BBC' is run, governed or funded.

Subscribe to Whose Beeb? - a newsletter about the politics & policy of BBC Charter review - for the latest news & analysis on how these debates are shaping the future of UK public media:

How do you design public media for a country that does not (yet) exist?

A new blog post by Dr Phil Ramsey and Dr Roddy Flynn, about their report on what a new public service media organisation in a United Ireland could look like: www.mediareform.org.uk/blog/psm-uni...

Are we settling for the status quo with the Government’s Charter review—or missing an opportunity for real change?
Prof Lee Edwards LSE & Media Reform Coalition dissects the green paper in this thought-provoking episode
🎧 Listen podfollow.com/beebwatch
#BBC #Podcast #MediaReform #PublicService #LSE

We set out a number of recommendations and propose a new institutional and operational structure to enable:

➡️ Stronger constitutional foundations
➡️ Reformed, more independent governance
➡️ Embedding citizen participation to strengthen resilience

Our BBC: A blueprint for a more independent and future-proofed BBC Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

Detailed proposals from @demos-uk.bsky.social for democratic reform of the BBC, preserving & expanding its role as critical "information infrastructure"

Its ideas for a citizens' panel, a 'public lock' & independent funding merit serious consideration in the government's ongoing BBC Charter review

‘A Victim All Over Again’: The Mail Trial and the Murders of Stephen Lawrence and Daniel Morgan Peter Jukes looks at how an ongoing High Court case plunges us back over thirty years to two murders in south‑east London and to a nexus of corrupt police officers and private investigators

"These horrific murders may seem like ancient history. But they are at the centre of astonishing legal claims against [the Daily Mail], which is currently bidding to increase its hold on the British media by buying the Telegraph group." @bylinetimes.bsky.social bylinetimes.com/2026/01/19/a...

Media Reform Coalition Media Reform coordinates the work of advocacy groups campaigning to protect the public interest in light of the Leveson Inquiry and Communications Review.

Handing Lord Rothermere almost 50% of the UK's newspaper market would be a deathblow to media plurality - the Daily Mail/Telegraph takeover must be blocked.

We have written to the Culture Secretary, urging the Government to formally intervene in the deal: www.mediareform.org.uk/blog/dmgt-tm...

A blueprint for permanent decline - read the MRC's analysis of the Green Paper on BBC Charter renewal:

💷 Adverts & paywalls will destroy BBC's public service mission
🏛️ No serious reform to broken political appointments
🚫 An undemocratic tickbox consultation

www.mediareform.org.uk/blog/dcms-bb...

Media Reform Coalition Media Reform coordinates the work of advocacy groups campaigning to protect the public interest in light of the Leveson Inquiry and Communications Review.

Read more about our campaign for a democratic BBC Charter review and joint letter - with 20 leading UK democracy and media groups + 35 leading academics, writers & broadcasters - on the MRC website: www.mediareform.org.uk/key-issues/b...

BBC Charter review must not ignore the views of audiences - Gvmt has to give UK public a democratic say on BBC's future

@scotnational.bsky.social report on our joint letter to Lisa Nandy with 20 groups incl. @campaignforthearts.org @vlvuk.bsky.social @involveuk.bsky.social @sortitionnow.bsky.social

"Reclaiming ‘Our BBC’: The MRC case for a democratic Charter review" A guest blog from Dr Tom Chivers of the Media Reform Coalition

Unless these historic debates on the BBC give the public real power to decide its future, even well-intentioned reforms will lack the democratic legitimacy the BBC needs from its audiences.

Read our vice-chair Tom Chivers in a guest blog for @publicinterestnews.org.uk on BBC Charter renewal:

The BBC Charter review should be a democratic public debate about the BBC's future.

But the government's consultation launched this week doesn't give the public a genuine role & is fixated on replacing public funding with advertising or subscription

Our vice-chair Dr Tom Chivers spoke to LBC News:

The Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has told Newsnight that the BBC's Charter review will begin "within the next few weeks".

This is an historic, once-in-a-generation debate. It must not repeat the undemocratic gimmicks of past reviews & instead give the public real power over the BBC's future:

As exposed by the @mediareformuk.bsky.social, not only do just three press barons control 90% of newspaper circulation, but now tech oligarchs are expanding their hold over digital news. This is, to put it mildly, bad.

bsky.app/profile/medi...

Media Reform Coalition Media Reform coordinates the work of advocacy groups campaigning to protect the public interest in light of the Leveson Inquiry and Communications Review.

Find out more about the excessive levels of media ownership & market concentration in national and local newspapers, TV, radio and digital platforms: www.mediareform.org.uk/media-owners...

Thanks to @equalitytrust.bsky.social for featuring our Who Owns The UK Media? research in their landmark report on concentrated elite power. A bad situation getting worse with Mail/Telegraph and Comcast/ITV takeovers.

Read Guardian coverage & the full report: equalitytrust.org.uk/evidence-bas...

Are you happy to let aristocrats and tech billionaires speak for you? If so, you'll love our new report in the Guardian on money, the media, and the House of Lords 👇

Save Our BBC: Give the public a real say The BBC isn't perfect, but we must come together to make it better and stronger. We must use the upcoming Royal Charter review to protect our BBC for us, the British public. For too long, the public h...

The BBC belongs to all of us, but the public never get a say in major decisions about the BBC’s future. This has to change if public media is going to survive

5,000 people have signed our @38degrees.bsky.social petition in just a few hours - add your voice & demand a democratic Charter review:

It is up to the Culture Secretary to issue an intervention on public interest grounds, which leaves any review to block the deal highly exposed to political & corporate pressure. Shamefully the UK does not have any red line caps on media ownership. www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/4...