Media

Better Media: Our Six Proposals

1. Mutualise the BBC

The BBC belongs to the public, yet too often it is governed as an arm of the state or a private members’ club. Ministers make senior appointments; boards are filled with political allies and corporate executives. Government cuts to BBC funding have wrecked services the public depend on to the point that there is a consistently declining view of the BBC as a public service.

A truly national broadcaster must not only be publicly funded but also publicly governed — run by the people who pay for it for the people who pay for it. We need a mutualised BBC: independent of government, insulated from commercial pressures, and accountable to its members - all British citizens - through democratic structures that give us control over the service we pay for.

We propose:

Replacing the government-appointed Board with a Council of BBC members that holds the BBC directly accountable to the public.
Establishing regional membership councils to enable direct public participation in programming and accountability.
Guaranteeing long-term, ring-fenced public funding free from political interference.
Replacing the TV license fee with a universal household levy, rated by an independent body with exemptions for the poorest households.

2. Tax the Media Oligarchs

A handful of billionaires and offshore corporations control most of Britain’s press and digital platforms while avoiding UK tax. They are held up as representing all of us, as the 'free press', but their dominance distorts public debate and undermines democracy. If they refuse to contribute fairly, they should not be allowed to own or influence UK media.

Tax justice is media justice: those who shape our information environment must pay their share toward sustaining it. Progressive levies on large media holdings and advertising profits would fund independent journalism and level the playing field for smaller outlets.

We propose:

Imposing a progressive media-ownership tax on conglomerates and offshore owners.
Conditioning UK broadcast or publishing licences on transparent, fair-tax compliance.
Dedicating revenues to an independent public-interest journalism fund.

3. Break Up the Press Barons

A handful of powerful owners dominate the national press, concentrating control of information in too few hands. This distorts public debate, limits plurality, and allows unaccountable interests to shape the national conversation. In some cases, these owners do not even contribute fairly to the country in which they wield such influence.

The national press is not just a private asset — it is part of the democratic infrastructure of the country. When ownership becomes too concentrated, detached from the public interest, or is used to withdraw vital publications, it should be treated as a matter of national concern.

We need a system that prevents excessive concentration of ownership while enabling a transition to more democratic, accountable models of media ownership.

We propose:

Opening up national newspaper titles to mutualisation where owners do not pay in the UK.
Designating excessively dominant market shares in the national press as a trigger for public-interest intervention, including mutualisation to restore plurality.
Requiring that any national publication under threat of closure or transfer of ownership to another media oligarch be offered first for community or worker buyout under a mutual ownership model.

4. Regulate the Press Independently

Most of Britain’s print and online media are effectively unregulated. Instead, most publishers are in a body called ‘IPSO’ - the Independent Press Standards Organisation - controlled by a club of newspaper executives and compliant politicians. This undermines press freedom and leaves the industry accountable only to itself. This model of “political self-regulation” has failed on all counts. What we need is independent regulation that protects people from press abuses and the press from the powerful.

An effective regulator must uphold and promote journalistic ethics, mediate complaints quickly, and restore trust in the industry. It should be funded and governed collaboratively — by journalists, publishers, and the public — not by government or big business.

Such a regulator already exists - called Impress - but none of the national newspapers will sign up without compulsion.

We propose:

Making membership of a fully independent press regulator (such as Impress) compulsory for all national newspapers with an annual turnover above £10m.
Guaranteeing access to low-cost arbitration for victims of press abuse through Impress.
Extending ethical standards training and accreditation across all media platforms.

5. Make Big Tech Pay Its Share

Global platforms extract enormous profits from UK journalism while undermining its economic base. Their algorithms favour outrage and misinformation, corroding civic life. Big Tech must contribute to repairing the damage it causes.

The Digital Services Tax should be increased and made permanent, with a proportion of the revenue raised allocated to fund a new public-interest media ecosystem, and with transparent rules governing how platforms prioritise and remunerate regulated news. Tech companies that profit from UK content must help sustain it.

We propose:

Expanding the Digital Markets Act to include a substantial media-funding levy.
Requiring platforms to give algorithmic preference to independently regulated publishers.
Creating an independent body to distribute levy funds to public-interest journalism (see below).

6. Build an Arts Council for Independent Media

Just as the Arts Council supports creative culture, independent journalism deserves stable, arm’s-length public support. A Fair Media Council could distribute grants transparently to newsrooms, cooperatives, and community outlets, while investing in media literacy and shared infrastructure.

Funding would come from the digital levy, fair-tax contributions, and direct public allocation — but decisions would rest with citizens and journalists, not ministers. This would give democracy the cultural infrastructure it needs to thrive.

We propose:

Establishing an independent, participatory Public Media Fund (based on the Better Media Fund).
Allocating resources equally between publishers, infrastructure, and participatory projects.
Empowering citizens to vote on a portion of funding priorities each year.

Media

Our task is simple but urgent: to make truth, accountability, and participation the organising principles of the information age. A better media is how democracy defends itself and how people, together, can begin to win again.