Coordinating Committee for Media Reform (CCMR)

Co-operatives UK is engaging with the Coordinating Committee for Media Reform (CCMR) to investigate the options for co-operatives within the media sector.

CCMR has been initiated by researchers in the Goldsmiths Leverhulme Media Research Centre to co-ordinate the work of advocacy groups campaigning to protect the public interest in the light of the Leveson Inquiry and Communications Review.

It has two specific objectives:

1. To co-ordinate the most effective contribution by NGOs, academics and media campaigners to the Leveson Inquiry and the Communications Review
2. To stimulate research and campaign activities that focus on advocating policies to sustain the public interest and to develop a democratic media system.

In the light of the forthcoming public inquiry into the regulation and ethics of the press (the Leveson Inquiry) as well as the Communications Review that is set to advise on a new Communications Bill in 2013, there is a real need to co-ordinate the work of advocacy groups campaigning to protect the public interest in news and beyond. The aim of this Committee is to bring key organisations into a collaborative partnership, and Co-operatives UK has been an active member of this group through its Co-operative Business Development Panel (CBDP).

One of the outcomes of this engagement was a recent event "Can media be co-operative?", where a group of journalists and experts from different fields – like economy and law – discussed the possibility of greater co-operative involvement in this sector. Please read our report of this event here.