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British courts have confirmed that complainants to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission must have a direct interest in the programme under review. A potential contributor who was consulted but whose contribution was not used in a programme complained to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission that this had led to inaccuracies which discredited her and prejudiced her research as it was known she had been consulted. The Broadcasting Complaints Commission accepted that it could consider her complaint as she had a direct interest in the subject matter as required by the Broadcasting Act 1990. The...

The Independent Television Commission has responded to the Government's proposals on Media Ownership. It has broadly welcomed the thrust of the proposals, in particular the acceptance of the continuing need for regulation which goes beyond the rules of ordinary competition law. It also supports the limited relaxation proposed in the rules limiting cross-media ownership. The Commission agrees that a more flexible definition of control be adopted which will not be confined to voting rights of share ownership but extends to considerations such as economic interest. The ITC has reservations about the...

The members of the Independent Television Commission decided on 14 September this year that the satellite channel, MTV Europe, should be required to pay financial penalties totalling £ 60,000 for three breaches of the ITC's Programme and Advertising Codes. The penalties incurred upon MTV Europe were based on the breach of Section 1.5 (i) of the Programme Code which states that material unsuitable for children must not be broadcast at times when large numbers of children may be expected to be watching. The terms of the MTV Europe licence require that the ITC's Codes are observed. Under Sections...

The Broadcasting Act 1990 (s. 92(2)) prohibits advertising on commercial radio by an organisation whose objectives are 'wholly or mainly of a political nature'; this is also prohibited by the Radio Authority's Advertising Code. Amnesty International was refused permission to advertise by the Radio Authority and challenged this by judicial review, arguing that the prohibition should be narrowly construed in accordance with Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights; thus it should apply only to organisations seeking a specific change in government whilst the objectives of Amnesty are...

The UK Government has responded to the National Heritage Select Committee's Report on Privacy and Media Intrusion . The central policy recommendation is that the Government continues to believe that press self-regulation is the appropriate method of regulating relations between the media and the public. However, the Government recommends improvements in the effectiveness and independence of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) in the newspaper industry's Code of Practice. Specific recommendations include: - the PCC should pay compensation from a fund set up by the industry to those it judges...