Plurality Focus on News
Leveson Inquiry · An Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press · Issued 29 November 2012 · Addressed to: UK Government
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
The particular public policy goals of ensuring that citizens are informed and preventing too much influence in any one pair of hands over the political process are most directly served by concentrating on plurality in news and current affairs. This focus should be kept under review.
Leveson Inquiry, An Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press · 29 Nov 2012 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- Ofcom publishes annual Media Nations reports which assess the state of UK media including news consumption across platforms, market shares, and media plurality indicators (Ofcom, Media Nations reports).
- The Enterprise Act 2002, section 58, includes media plurality as a public interest consideration in merger decisions, requiring assessment of "a sufficient plurality of views in news media" (Enterprise Act 2002, Section 58, legislation.gov.uk).
- The focus on news and current affairs plurality, as recommended, is reflected in both the Ofcom measurement framework and the statutory merger regime.
Sources
Response — verbatim from government
●UK Government
The government accepted recommendations on media plurality. Ofcom developed a measurement framework for media plurality in 2015, publishes regular Media Nations reports, and has a full menu of remedies available for plurality concerns. The Enterprise Act 2002 and Communications Act 2003 provide the legislative basis for intervention on media mergers. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/david-cameron-statement-in-response-to-the-leveson-inquiry-report
UK Government · 29 Nov 2012 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 27 Feb 2025 · Ofcom / Government Media plurality assessments focus on news and current affairs, as Leveson recommended. Ofcom's media plurality framework and the public interest test in media mergers concentrate on plurality in news provision. View source → Confirmed Completed
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.