Inquiries, consultations & hearings into PSM

UK: Consultation opens on future of the BBC, as Trump follows through on lawsuit

Donald Trump followed through on his threat to sue the BBC, with the US president filing a $5bn lawsuit over a misleading edit of his speech contained in a Panorama documentary. 

Trump accused the public broadcaster of defamation and of violating a trade law. The BBC, which has previously apologised for the edit, said it will defend the case. 

“We are not going to make further comment on ongoing legal proceedings.”

The lawsuit came on the same day the UK government published a consultation document on how it could future-proof the BBC, which included a possible advertising or subscription model for the corporation, among others.

The green paper asks for the public’s views on several funding options – including the possibility of advertisements for the first time in the BBC’s one-hundred year history – and the possibility of replacing the licence fee with a different set of rates. 

The government, in announcing the paper, stressed it had no preferred model and that it was “keeping all options open”.

The culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, said the BBC was “an institution that matters deeply to the democratic process in this country and to the health of our nation” and that it “has to have sustainable funding in order to thrive”.

Other issues the consultation will look at include how the World Service is funded, the corporation’s workplace culture, transparency and accountability, how it is accountable to audiences, and how it fully represents communities, as well as how the BBC can survive in the streaming era. 

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Hungary: Notice issued over non-compliance with European law

The European Commission has sent a letter of notice to Hungary over its noncompliance with the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), marking the first real test of the continent’s new media freedom law.

The Commission accused Hungary of interfering in the work of journalists, not protecting journalistic sources, and also breaching requirements under the Audiovisual Media Services Directive. The Commission added that “Hungary also fails to comply with requirements relating to the public service media, the transparency of media ownership, the assessment of media market concentrations and the allocation of State advertising.” 

Hungary’s media has faced years of sustained pressure under the government of Victor Orban. The state has gained control over the national media system, with RSF estimating that 80 percent of Hungary’s private media is now owned by Orban allies. A 2022 report from IPI found that Orban’s Fidesz party “has pursued the most advanced model of media capture ever developed within the European Union.” The national broadcaster has been transformed into ”an audiovisual propaganda tool of the ruling party,: it said, where editorial independence “is virtually non-existent for news programming at the public radio and TV, which uncritically amplify Fidesz’s messaging.” 

When EMFA was passed in 2023, there were concerns it would not be fully implemented. But this week’s action has been welcomed by civil society groups including IPI and the EJF. Hungary has two months to respond to the letter. If the response is unsatisfactory, the case could be brought before the European Court of Justice. 

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Canary Islands: RTVC protest outside congress, alleging interference.

Employees from public media in the Canary Islands protested outside Congress, demanding an end of what they said was political interference and the privatisation of public media.  

In October, regional parties introduced a bill that, if passed, would outsource information services. That precipitated what has been described as an ‘unprecedented crisis’ for public media in the islands, when several executives at RTVC, including head of news Paco Luis Quintana, have resigned in recent weeks. 

An MP, Carmen Hernández, said the outsourcing of news programmes would “alter the essence of public service and open the door to a loss of democratic guarantees.” Hernández also warned that any restructure should eliminate mechanisms of political control. The bill was signed into law on 10 December. 

A trade union group known as the “Platform for Public Broadcasters”, have met with MPs to demand an end to any interference and for the European Media Freedom Act to be implemented.

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Chile: New public radio network proposed by gov’t

Chile’s outgoing government has unveiled a new bill which would create a new public radio network, with multiple different stations providing national coverage. 

“With this project, we are advancing democracy, strengthening the media ecosystem, and moving towards a public media network,” said the Minister of the General Secretariat of Government, Camila Vallejo. “We are fulfilling the commitment that the President made in his State of the Nation Address, which is to move towards the creation of a public radio station, because our country did not have one.”

Alongside the establishment of the National Public Radios, the bill would allocate the frequency band between 86 and 88 MHz to public radio stations. Institutions such as Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN), and other public bodies, would be eligible to establish a public radio station. The bill also includes proposals to expand the radio spectrum. 

However, the chances of the bill actually passing into law appear slim. The recent election, in which the incumbent Gabriel Boric was unable to stand, saw the election of the far-right José Antonio Kast. Kast will be inaugurated in March.

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Peru: Indigenous language expansion at IRTP

Peru’s national broadcaster, the IRTP, is expanding its range of Indigenous language content, with announcements over programmes for new languages and variants. 

The radio and television broadcaster said it had this week started broadcasting news and cultural content in Awajún, the second-largest Amazonian Indigenous community in Peru. 

The expansion is part of a National Policy on Indigenous Languages, which includes a plan to broadcast radio and television content in five Indigenous languages. 

The Awajún launch came in the same week IRTP celebrated the ninth anniversary of its Quechua language programme Ñuqanchik. The programme, which is aimed at Peru’s four million Quechua speakers, broadcasts in two variants of the language, although it was also announced this week that this would expand to include six new variants, several of which are endangered. 

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