Committee on Convergence Kicks Off with Big Policy Questions

Will media convergence require a much more far reaching shakeup of media regulation than the government’s Communications Review is countenancing? The House of Lords Select Committee on Communications has begun its investigation into the public policy implications of media convergence. Coincidentally I was giving evidence the same day that my pamphlet ‘The End of Press Freedom’ was published by Oxford University’s Foundation for Law, Justice and Society. I think the members of the committee might find the pamphlet an interesting read so I hope they will accept it as written evidence, but Tuesday’s evidence session was not about press freedom, but about clearing the undergrowth and setting up the framework for the committee’s work. I was keen to set out some basic ideas for the inquiry, which I will summarise here.