Report to the Secretary of State (Culture, Media and Sport) on the media ownership rules

• Ofcom

Read the full text

26 November 2009The UK Parliament has put in place media ownership rules for television, radio and newspapers. In the interests of democracy, the rules aim to help protect plurality of viewpoints and give citizens access to a variety of sources of news, information and opinion.

Ofcom has a statutory duty to review the operation of, and recommend any changes to, the media ownership rules, including the media public interest test.

In Government's Digital Britain Final Report, Government asked Ofcom to consider the impact of the current local media ownership rules on the sustainability of local media.

On 31 July 2009 they published a Consultation Document which set out proposed recommendations. Consultation responses were generally supportive of these recommendations. This report sets out the final recommendations to the Secretary of State (Culture, Media and Sport), taking into account all consultation responses.