UK press regulation

Abstract

Press regulation in the United Kingdom, and debate over its future, cannot be isolated from a wider settlement for regulated media content, if regulatory coherence across platforms is to be achieved. Consumers are accessing and engaging with a range of broadcast, print, on-demand and wider digital content. Yet the standards (if any) applied to these services are marked by inconsistency and fail to enable citizens to make informed, democratic choices across media platforms. This short article proposes a managed transition towards a new settlement for legacy and digital media regulation. Clear, tiered standards marks would denote three categories of cross-platform provision, ranging from comprehensive statutory requirements for public service providers; voluntary incentivized standards for non-public service providers and base line minimum standards consistent with those currently required for audiovisual content. This article argues that together, media providers, regulators, consumers and legislators have the opportunity to shape a democratic agenda that recognizes the contribution made by journalism (and wider content), values the public space it inhabits and renews the regulation that sustains it.