Media Sexism

Lord Vaizey of Didcot Excerpts

Wednesday 12th June 2013 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mr Edward Vaizey)]

This is an unusual and refreshing debate. I probably have to choose my language carefully; I am reluctant to praise the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) on her dress sense, but she certainly made a fantastic impact in the initial stages of the debate. I note that you, Mr Hood, reminded us all of the current code of conduct for dress in the House, but she did make an impact. She has also made an impact with a powerful speech.

I note in passing the remarks the hon. Lady made about the opening credits of BBC Parliament, which I confess is not a channel that I watch a great deal, but I know that the BBC monitors debates such as this extremely carefully. The debate today is one of the few in which the BBC is mentioned when somebody from its public affairs department has not texted me furiously to put points on its behalf. I hope that the BBC has noted what the hon. Lady said about the opening credits of BBC Parliament representing the cut and thrust of debate with 12 male Members of the House and that it notes that there are many women Members of the House, who make a fantastic contribution to our debates.

The debate covers a crucial and wide-ranging issue, which impacts all of us in this country. I welcome the hon. Lady’s recent campaign and her ability to secure today’s debate. In responding to her remarks, I will describe some fundamental principles in the Government’s approach to media regulation and, as she challenges me to do, provide a flavour of how we are addressing media sexism more generally.

Media representation of women is rightly of great concern to many people. As discussed in the debate, it can include, in particular, images or text that are sexually explicit or objectifying, reporting that trivialises violence against women and girls, or accumulated imagery that restricts the diversity of representation of women. The Government fully recognise that concern, and the potential that such representations have to impact negatively on women’s participation in public life, as well as how they can affect the way women view themselves and how they might be viewed by others.

It is also worth reminding the House that the media play an invaluable role in our cultural and democratic life. The Government are utterly committed to supporting a vibrant and diverse media industry. The press has a crucial role to play in our society: shining a light in dark places, holding the powerful to account and supporting vibrant local and regional communities. Freedom of expression is a vital part of our society. As well as maintaining that freedom, we as a Government are committed to maintaining media that command the respect of the public through high standards and are capable of appropriately protecting the rights of individuals. While on the one hand we must promote vibrant, diverse and free media, we must also maintain and protect the rights of ordinary people. The focus of Government regulation has therefore always been on supporting those standards and protecting individuals who find themselves, often through no fault of their own, the focus of the media. I will talk briefly about the different types of media regulation in this country, including press regulation, broadcasting regulation and advertising regulation.

The hon. Lady spent some time on press regulation in her speech. It is important to point out that newspapers are, of course, already bound by the law of the land, including the Obscene Publications Acts and the Indecent Displays Act 1989. The Press Distribution Forum has published guidance on the display of adult material. The majority of newspapers already sign up to the editors’ code of practice, which the Press Complaints Commission is continuing to enforce until new arrangements are in place.

As the hon. Lady pointed out, the Leveson inquiry considered the issues in detail. Although the Leveson report concluded that the editors’ code of practice is generally recognised to be sound, its central recommendations were about how the code could be more effectively enforced. Although it sets out a range of requirements around the treatment of individuals who become the subject of the news, it does not veer into the regulation of press content. That is because content regulation is not something that we have applied to the press in this country, and on the whole, Leveson was clear that the distinction should continue. Leveson recommended a reformed system of self-regulation, including independence of appointments and funding, an arbitration service, a fast complaints-handling mechanism, and the power to demand apologies and levy fines. He urged the press industry to work towards establishing a new, independent self-regulator to address those issues and suggested that press self-regulation should be independently verified through a process of recognition.

As the hon. Lady pointed out, Lord Justice Leveson specifically examined evidence concerning media sexism, taking evidence from organisations such as Eaves, the End Violence Against Women coalition, Equality Now and OBJECT, which jointly published a landmark report late last year entitled “Just the Women.” He summarised thus:

“The evidence as a whole suggested that there is force in the trenchant views expressed by the groups and organisations who testified to the Inquiry that the…tabloid press often failed to show consistent respect for the dignity and equality of women generally, and that there was a tendency to sexualise and demean women.”

Among other points, he concluded:

“What is clearly required is that any such regulator has the power to take complaints from representative women’s groups.”

Consequently, his 11th recommendation was that a new self-regulator should enable third-party complaints, from, for example, representative women’s groups, to help counteract media sexism, as well as other issues, and provide redress.

The Government have considered the recommendation, and it is now reflected in the cross-party charter that we published in March. However, we considered it appropriate to apply a threshold to the consideration of group complaints by the regulator, to ensure that the future regulator was not inundated with complaints whose motive was to forward the campaigning agenda of a group or organisation, and to make sure that complaints did not impact on the freedom of the press to express an opinion, which is a very important principle. To summarise: the underlying principle of press regulation has always been that provided something remains within the law and so long as it does not inappropriately interfere with the rights of individuals, it is for adults to choose for themselves what they want to read. The Government therefore do not regulate and have no intention of regulating the content of the press itself.

[Caroline Lucas]

The Minister has talked a lot about how current press regulation means that the press are bound by the law of the land, but the point I am making is that the law of the land does not go far enough. Does he not agree that if Rupert Murdoch does not take steps himself and listen to the campaigners who are asking for page 3 to be ditched, the Government have a role and should step in at that point? The existing law is not enough.

[Mr Vaizey]

I hear what the hon. Lady says and I know that she is campaigning for a change in the law, but the Government’s position is that we do not interfere in press content. There are no plans to change the law in that regard. She mentioned other points in her remarks, which it is appropriate to address while I am on the subject of press content.

The hon. Lady suggested that I meet her constituents when the results of her campaign have been collated. That would be an appropriate meeting; I would go further and suggest that other Ministers involved in these issues also take part. She mentioned the guidelines of the National Federation of Retail Newsagents. I take the approach that self-regulation can often be more effective than legislation, because it is more flexible and can be updated more rapidly. I suggest that, with the NFRN, the Government look at how effectively the guidelines are being applied, and that we maintain a dialogue with the NFRN, the hon. Lady and campaigning groups on the guidelines.

I do not have time to go into detail about broadcast media, but it is important to point out that there is a difference between broadcast regulation and press regulation. Broadcasting is pushed into the home, whereas it is often a matter of choice whether print media are brought into the home. That is why the level of regulation is tighter for broadcasting.

[Caroline Lucas]

Will the Minister give way?

[Mr Vaizey]

I will take the hon. Lady’s intervention, but I have very little time to conclude.

[Caroline Lucas]

The Minister is very kind. With the 40 seconds left, I want to point out that page 3 is not a matter of choice; it is everywhere—in shops, on the tube and on buses. That is why, in the last few seconds, I again invite him to take action with me to, at the very least, get it off the premises here in the House of Commons.

[Mr Vaizey]

If the hon. Lady will forgive me, I am not planning to join her campaign to keep The Sun out of the Palace of Westminster. As I said, it is a matter of choice whether people read The Sun and I do not think that campaign would be appropriate. I have only three seconds left, so I congratulate her on this effective debate.

[Mr Jim Hood (in the Chair)]

I suspend the sitting until 4 pm, as the 2.30 debate has been cancelled.