An upcoming debate here at LSE (13 February) will engage top academics and practitioners on media ethics in a post-Leveson world. It’s been over a year since the release of the report of the Leveson Inquiry and there’s been no shortage of discussion about the report and its implications on this blog or elsewhere. If you need a refresher, I recommend catching up by reading the following posts:
- 29 Nov 2012: Leveson Report: Analysis
- 04 Dec 2012 Front Page Leveson: Papers Lead with Freedom the Day After The Report
- 16 Jan 2013: Leveson and Media Policy: A Lost Opportunity?
- 19 Mar 2013: Cross Party Agreement on Royal Charter Ends Phase One of Leveson
- 28 Mar 2013: Leveson Round Up: Are We Nearly There Yet?
- 28 May 2013: Leveson, Arbitration and the Local Press: Three Misconceptions
- 07 Oct 2013: Leveson is Back: What Kind of British Press Do You Want?
- 02 Dec 2013: The Leveson Report Anniversary: A Celebration or a Commemoration?
- 08 Jan 2014: It’s 2014 and We’re Still Implementing Leveson Inquiry Recommendations
Slow movement on implementing a new form of press self-regulation and other changes recommended by Leveson has certainly helped prolong discussions of British media standards, but all the debate involving policymakers and various stakeholders could be seen as a positive. Perhaps these prolonged discussions are needed to determine what has to happen to ensure that British media is acting as an ethical player in a healthy democracy.
Next week’s debate at LSE will ask if ethics can help us think about whether we have the media needed for a healthy society and how we should think about the good or harm the media can cause. The event details are as follows:
Date: Thursday 13 February 2014
Time: 6.30pm-8pm
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building
Speaker: Baroness O’Neill
Respondents: Professor George Brock, Gavin Millar
Chair: Professor Nick Couldry
Baroness O’Neill, emeritus professor of philosophy at the University of Cambridge and a crossbench member of the House of Lords, will open the debate followed by responses from George Brock and Gavin Millar. George Brock (@georgeprof) is head of journalism at City University and a member of the executive board of the International Press Institute and chairs the IPI’s British committee. Gavin Millar QC is co-founder of Doughty Street Chambers and a specialist in media law. He has undertaken a number of high profile defamation, privacy, contempt and reporting restriction cases and has acted for most of the major UK media organisations. The event chair, Nick Couldry (@couldrynick), is Professor of Media, Communications and Social Theory in the Department of Media and communications at LSE.
This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis. For any queries please email events@lse.ac.uk.
This article gives the views of the author, and does not represent the position of the LSE Media Policy Project blog, nor of the London School of Economics.
