The “IPPR Oxford Media Convention 2021, Reform media, renew democracy” will take place online from Monday 19 July to Wednesday 21 with an in-person drinks reception on the 21st in a central London location.
The convention will explore what measures may be needed to secure a sustainable media ecosystem for the post-Covid “decade of disruption” ahead and beyond.
Media and Data Minister John Whittingdale OBE MP (pictured) will give a keynote speech, as will Ofcom chief executive Melanie Dawes. The programme features a plenary panel discussing the value of public service broadcasters and another examining how a fairer relationship between platforms and publishers can be forged.
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Other sessions will look at how to build an anti-racist media, how to eradicate news inequality as news deserts open up across the UK, and how public interest news should be paid for.
Speakers will include Marcus Ryder MBE, head of external consultancies at the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity, Marietje Schaake, international policy director at Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Center, Damian Collins MP, former chair of the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, and Lord Puttnam, chair of the Lords’ Democracy and Digital Technologies Committee.
Carys Roberts, executive director at the Institute for Public Policy Research, said: “Over the last century there has been a significant decline in trust in the political class as a whole, political institutions and, most concerning of all, democracy as a system.
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“At the heart of this issue is the transformation we have seen in our media landscape, in particular the steady decline in traditional media and meteoric rise of social media catalysed by new technologies.
“With the media environment transformed by new entrants there is an urgent need to renew our vision of the role of the media in a healthy democracy.
“This summer, at a crucial time for the industry and our democracy, the IPPR Oxford Media Convention will be asking these challenging questions.” Find the full list of speakers here and register here.
*This article was sponsored by the IPPR
Main photo Carl Court /Getty Images
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