Select committee: Communications and Digital Committee
Conclusion 19
1st Report - Breaking News? The Future of UK Journalism
Published 27 Nov 2020
Paragraph 144
Communications and Digital Committee The future of journalism All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We encourage the industry to draw up a diversity charter, including the following commitments: To advertise all vacancies openly To develop approaches to internship recruitment for applicants which provide a level playing field for those with diverse backgrounds and experiences To pay all interns enough to cover all necessary expenses, including accommodation To report annually on the diversity of their workforce and the steps they are taking to address inequalities of opportunity. This should include data on retention and progression and cover the protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010 as well as socio-economic background.
From: Communications and Digital Committee, 1st Report - Breaking News? The Future of UK Journalism, paragraph 144, 27 November 2020
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 2 March 2021 (deadline 2 March 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government welcomes the report and agrees on the importance of journalism and the challenges of digital transition, while declining several specific recommendations, such as extending Ofcom's reporting powers and convening a funding forum.
- On media literacy, it accepted the Cairncross recommendation for a strategy, to be "published in spring 2021", but maintains that responsibility "does not lie with Ofsted".
- On court reporting, it says it does "not currently have plans to alter this approach" to recording devices, and will continue to liaise with HMCTS on supporting court reporters.
- On diversity reporting, it "does not propose to amend the statutory framework", citing the need to balance regulatory burden on enterprise.
- On digital markets, it commits to a Digital Markets Unit "from April 2021", will hold a public consultation this year, and will legislate "as soon as parliamentary time allows". On a news bargaining code, "No decisions have yet been taken."