Closedown?: The BBC and Government Broadcasting Policy 1979-92

Abstract

Which factors shaped broadcasting policy in the 1980s and shaped the face of broadcasting for the 1990s? Has policy led to greater or less freedom for broadcasting? What does the development of policy in this period tell us about the relationship between broadcasting and state? This key for all those involved in media studies provides an assessment of the debates and legislation set in an historical context. Tom O'Malley, National Secretary of the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, unearths the seeds of change in the industry by looking at the fractious relationship between the Conservative Party and broadcasters in the late 1970s, tracing economic and technological forces for change and examining the politics (particularly that of the New Right) which lay behind the impetus for legislation. The lobbyists for change from the electronics, advertising and media industries are investigated as are the intellectual lobbyists for deregulation. Opposition to the Broadcasting Act, which was determined and highly vocal, is assessed and its influence on the policy process examined. O'Malley also evaluates key documents in the broadcasting debate, the Hunt Report, the Cable and Broadcasting Act, the Peacock Report and the Broadcasting Act. After comparing UK developments with those in the USA and Western Europe, the book concludes by reflecting on events in the light of debates about the relationship between media and state.

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