Goldsmiths - University of London

A Media Manifesto for the Digital Age - Open Seminar

Journalists and politicians have lost the trust of the public. Corporate media is failing democracy. News organisations are in crisis.

Whether you agree with any or all of these claims the questions they raise are critical:

• What is the relationship between news media and democracy and how do we preserve it?

• Should government have a role in media structures and behaviour?

• How do we protect the public interest and promote democratic practice in the face of commercial pressures?

• What should be the main priorities for media policy for the next Government?

This seminar brings together a panel of politicians, policy makers and journalists to debate these crucial issues at a time when newspaper circulation levels are at an all time low and no-one seems to know how the sector will survive; local and regional newspapers are cutting jobs and closing titles; ITV in the regions is in demise; online and mobile platforms have expanded while advertising revenue has fallen. The depreciation of the current business model together with the increasing commercial pressures are claimed to devalue the pursuit of news journalism that is in the public interest and ultimately detrimental to democracy. What, if anything, should the next government do?

Invited Panellists include: Peter Mandelson; Jeremy Hunt, Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport; Don Foster MP for Bath and Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Culture, Media and Sport; Caroline Thomson, BBC Controller of Public Policy; Jeremy Dear General Secretary of the NUJ; Polly Toynbee. Chaired by Professor James Curran, Director of Goldsmiths Leverhulme Media Research Centre.

Followed by a drinks reception and book launch of New Media, Old News: Journalism and Democracy in the Digital Age, edited by Natalie Fenton and published by Sage.