Media Green Paper

Baroness Stowell of Beeston Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

I will feed the right reverend Prelate’s point back. I think it is a really interesting point. I know that having knowledge of the Bible and Bible stories meant that I was much better equipped to understand literature. I think there is that cultural aspect, as well as the faith aspect, to it. The main thrust of the paper was around making sure nobody was left behind in the move towards digital, but I will feed those points back.

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston (Con)]

My Lords, a trusted source of news that everyone can rely on is good for society, but we should not kid ourselves that that is what currently exists. Levels of trust in the BBC and other mainstream broadcasters are not universal across all demographic groups. The cause of that is the failings of the broadcasters and that is what pushes these people in search of other sources of information—not all of which is bad, I must add. Before any decision is made on giving greater prominence to broadcasters, will the Minister require them, especially the BBC, to publish a breakdown of their audience trust scores by demographic group, using a modern model, such as that deployed by More in Common or Yonder, that goes deeper than just age and socioeconomic groups? Will she demand from the BBC especially that, for any prominence to be awarded, it must first improve its performance among those groups?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

The noble Baroness makes a really interesting point. I hope the noble Baroness will take part in the consultation, but I will feed that back. We are clear that a free and fair media is essential to our democracy; part of that is people actually accessing information, and that trust piece has to go beyond just the surface level. I will feed the points back.