[cma-l] Trust in the media

[Olly Benson]

I think it's less about trust and more about accountability.

I still think that Ofcom missed a crucial part of developing the Community
Radio model when it didn't put a locally-owned governance requirement as
part of every licence.

If you look at the fallout from the last six months, particularly at Channel
4 and ITV, the response seems to be a move away from the sort of programmes
which caused so much controversy.  This could be because Jeremy Paxman et al
have made speeches demanding it; but many commentators point out it is
because the audience wants it.  The audience keeps ITV, C4 (and others) in
check through the off button.

It's more of an issue at the BBC; which although is controlled to a certain
extent by audience figures, isn't purely market-led.  Indeed, the BBC tends
now to use the Audience Appreciation Index to measure success of programmes.
That is backed up by the BBC Trust and the Audience Councils; by no means a
perfect solution but at least an attempt.

Community Radio doesn't have the mass audience, nor the measuring
capability, to be led by ratings (nor should it!).  But it also doesn't have
a default system where the public at large can hold the station to account.
There are obviously safeguards built in for registered charities, and the
Ofcom regulations govern certain output requirements.  And whilst many
stations have "listener panels" etc; these are advisory rather than
governance and there is an important distinction.

No Community Radio station has the right to broadcast; they have to earn
their place every moment they are on air.  Frequency is a publicly-owned
asset, finite in availability, and community radio stations are hugely
privileged to have access to this resource.  That is something I think
everyone working on a community station must constantly remind themselves.

I also shudder at the "we are our audience" notion as an argument as to why
a community station doesn't need a broader governance requirement.  That's
not to say it there isn't a level of accountability in this; but I don't
think that alone is sufficient.  Even if your station broadcasts to a
specific community, by the very nature that it covers a geographical area
does it not have to be accountable to everyone in that area; in return for
using the airwaves?

And, I think there are issues about you are always measured by your least
bad part; and just as there is acres of excellent television which is
completely honest with its audience, the fact that a "small minority" of
outlets acted the way they did has ruined the reputation for everyone.  Perhaps
not to its audience, but to its stakeholders, I think Community Radio is
seen as a single entity, and I wonder how much responsibility stations have
to have to each other (this is the concept of the professions being
self-governing).


Olly


On 27/08/07, Editor, Airflash Magazine <michelle at commedia.org.uk> wrote:
>
> Dear All,
>
> A YouGov poll published last Friday shows that nearly half of the UK
> population "do not trust [television] very much to tell the truth".
> As the subject of trust dominated the Edinburgh international
> television festival this weekend, I thought it would be good to find
> out if any of the recent television scandals had had any rippling
> effect in the community media sector? Do your audience trust you more
> or less to tell the truth?
>
> Read Jeremy Paxman's MacTaggart Memorial  Lecture: http://
> image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Media/documents/2007/08/24/
> MacTaggartLecture.pdf
>
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