Recommendation 2

HM Government · verbatim extract Acknowledged

The UK media plays a vital role in our society and therefore has an important responsibility to shape our values around tolerance and respect of those with different faiths and beliefs. We agree with the Committee regarding the importance of a vibrant and diverse media sector so that everyone, including Muslim women, can see themselves and the issues that matter to them reflected authentically on-screen and to give greater ownership over their own storytelling. Although media organisations in the UK are operationally and editorially independent, the Government expects the media sector to go further to ensure a diverse pool of talent both on and off-screen and to avoid the same people determining what stories get told and who tells them. The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport reiterated this last year, asking for “much greater urgency to diversify the TV workforce, to move commissioning out of London and to ensure the whole nation is reflected in the story we tell ourselves about ourselves as a nation.” There are a number of initiatives and regulatory processes which seek to remove barriers to entry and progression and improve representation across the media sector. In the case of TV and radio, Ofcom has a statutory role under the Communications Act 2003 to track and monitor off-screen diversity. ... (text truncated for brevity) ... The UK press has a self-regulatory system. Having a fair and free press is vital to ensure the public has access to accurate and trustworthy information from a range of different sources. We are also clear, however, that with this freedom comes responsibility and publishers must operate ethically and within the bounds of the law. This includes ensuring access to clear, timely and effective routes to redress. Within the self-regulatory system, the majority of traditional publishers are members of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). Some publishers have joined the Independent Monitor for the Press (Impress), while others including the Financial Times and the Guardian, have chosen to pursue their own detailed self-regulatory arrangements. These regulators enforce codes of conduct which provide guidelines on a range of areas which include discrimination and harassment. This includes avoiding prejudicial or derogatory references to an individual’s religion. IPSO also provides specific additional guidance for journalists and editors which sets out their responsibilities regarding the moderation of comments left by readers for the outlets they regulate. Impress also has guidance on its standards code that set out that the code may also include third-party user-generated content, including comments under news stories.