[commedia] Promising support for community media from Tessa Jowell

[Nicky Edmonds]

Tessa Jowell MP, Secretary of State, supported community media in her
evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on March 12th.

She said " In public policy terms, we want to support the development of
community radio, and subject to the availability of spectrum (and this,
obviously, is a matter which is under consideration in the spectrum review,
on which the consultation has only just finished) in principle we would also
favour RSLs in relation to television. Very local radio and very local
television has the potential for representing otherwise excluded interests,
particularly those of ethnic minorities, and has a role in developing a
sense of community identity,"

This extract is taken from Tessa Jowell's response to a question at the
Select Committee, posed by Adrian Flook  MP for Taunton (home to a
successful TV RSL). The Select Committee under the Chair of Gerald Kaufman
has built up a reputation for controversy and for challenging ministers and
is presently carrying out an enquiry into the state of the Communications
Industry.

For the full transcript, please go to
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmcumeds.htm  where there is an
index of the evidence given to the Select Committee. The questions relating
to Community Media come just before the end of Tessa Jowell's and Patricia
Hewitt's evidence on 12 March 2002

Also look out for CMA's evidence to the Select Committee, starring our own
Steve Buckley, John Trevitt, Eleanor Stephenson and Dave Rushton on February
12th 2002. The transcript has not yet been put upon the Select Committee web
site, but watch this space for more news..

Tessa Jowell mentions the Spectrum Review in her evidence. CMA has made a
response to the joint DCMS and DTI consultation "Digital TV : The Principles
for Spectrum Planning" , which can be found on the CMA website
www.commedia.org.uk

Nicky Edmonds



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