Media Ownership, Plurality and Democracy

To sustain a flourishing democracy in Scotland we will need diverse and independent voices in the media. Yet media concentration remains at worrying levels and a handful of corporations and individuals have considerable power over our news, cultural life and access to information. Instead of holding a mirror to society, they are a distorting force reflecting the financial and political interests of multinational conglomerates. Decisions about the Scottish newspaper industry, such as merging titles, deskilling, and laying off good journalists, are made with scant regard for the people of Scotland, while the BBC’s structure and content are determined with insufficient accountability to the public it is supposed to serve. Alternative new media platforms have sprung up rapidly in the last few years, but the ability of digital intermediaries like search engines and social media giants to filter information threatens to create new monopolies undermining these positive developments. We call on both the Scottish Government and the UK Government to create new legislation to prevent damaging media concentration and to encourage a more plural media at both national and local levels.

Signatories

• Paul Holleran (Scottish Organiser, NUJ)
• Paul McManus (Scottish Organiser, Bectu)
• Lorne Boswell (Scottish Organiser, Equity)
• Grahame Smith (General Secretary, STUC)
• Prof. Greg Philo (Research Director, Glasgow Media Group)
• Dr. William Dinan (University of Stirling)
• Dr Alenka Jelen (General Secretary, European Communication Research and Education Association)
• Dr. Muhammad Idrees Ahmad (Lecturer in Digital Journalism, University of Stirling)
• Prof. John Robertson (Professor in Media Politics, University of the West of Scotland)
• Prof. John Eldridge (Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of Glasgow)
• Robin McAlpine (Director, Common Weal)
• Christopher Silver (Writer and Filmmaker)
• Alison Balharry (former Senior Producer at BBC R4/World Service/RScotland)
• Linda Fabiani MSP (SNP, former Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture)
• Michael Russell MSP (SNP, former Minister for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution)
• Sandra White MSP (SNP)
• Katy Clark MP (Labour)
• Neil Findlay MSP (Labour)
• Patrick Harvie MSP (Scottish Green Party)
• Alison Johnstone MSP (Scottish Green Party)
• Jean Urquhart MSP (independent, founder of Not My Xenophobia campaign)
• Bill Kidd MSP (SNP, Chief Whip)
• Stewart Maxwell (SNP, Convernor of Education and Culture Committee)
• Graeme Dey MSP (SNP, former journalist and sports editor at the Dundee Courier)
• Mike MacKenzie MSP (SNP)
• Dave Thompson MSP (SNP)
• Gil Paterson MSP (SNP)
• Jim Eadie MSP (SNP)
• Dennis Robertson MSP (SNP)