Author Archives: Sean McGuire

A Question for Ofcom (and Leveson) – Does the Internet Increase News Plurality – Maybe Not?

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

In promoting consumer choice are we actually fragmenting the revenues that a more consolidated industry could use to fund more extensive, more in-depth coverage, without actually gaining the plurality that we crave?

To get an answer to whether the internet increases news plurality Ofcom (in its current study of the issue for the Secretary of State) needs to look at the news supply chain and the quality/investment in news provision not simply the headline number of providers or the headline number of different named news services used.

Local TV Can Work In The UK – But Not As We Know It

Thursday, October 28th, 2010

The interim report from the Shott Review, set up by Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt, has come to conclusions similar to those of Ofcom – the economics of local TV in the UK, even in the largest urban areas, look precarious at best.
However at O&O we believe that despite challenging economics, truly local TV can start to develop in the UK without the need for direct government support if we drop preconceived notions of what it might look like, how it might be delivered and who might end up providing it.