The Future of News (Communications and Digital Committee Report)

Baroness Grey-Thompson Excerpts

Friday 25th April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Grey-Thompson (CB)]

My Lords, I declare an interest in that I was a board member of the BBC for five years, until 2022. I do occasional work in the media, am a member of the UK Soft Power Council and write a weekly unpaid column for the Evening Gazette in Middlesbrough, near where I live. I do that because it is important to connect the work that I do in London with local communities and vice versa. Over the years, I have seen huge cuts in local news, which is a great worry to me.

This is a timely report. The world of news, broadcasting and reporting seems to be changing so quickly, as is the world around us. When I was travelling around the world as an athlete, the BBC World Service was a bit of a gem. I used to spend a lot of time in the States, where there was a complete lack of news. It was an antidote to the rolling news that they had there. I have frequently been told how much it is valued in terms of accessing reliable information. We should think carefully about how it remains impartial and separate from governments. It should never be a political tool. However, building a sustainable model for news is important, as is having accurate, clear reporting and reliable information.

I understand that the role of government is complex. I was on the board of the BBC when we spent many months debating over-75s policy, and we are not far away from the next licence fee negotiation. Maybe it is time to have a reset of that relationship. We also need to keep up to date with how young people access news. I am really concerned about the drop in trust that the report discusses. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Stowell, for her work and agree with her that authentic representation is essential.

In an age of misinformation and rapidly evolving digital platforms, media literacy is no longer a luxury but a necessity. I am really looking forward to the chairmanship of the noble Baroness, Lady Keeley, and the plans for the future, because it is essential that the skills required to navigate and critically assess information are embedded within the school curriculum. We must actively promote independent thought and critical thinking, particularly in how young people interpret and respond to information. A survey commissioned by the Student View discovered that 90% of UK teachers want media literacy to be included in the curriculum. According to the National Literacy Trust, over half of them believe that the curriculum does not equip children with the literacy skills that they need to identify fake news.

I use social media. It gives me a view, unbalanced, of the world. However, 68% of teenagers say that they use social media for news, while research by Ofcom in 2022 found that only one in 10 were able to tell what is real or fake. It also found that more than a third of children aged eight to 17 said that they had seen something worrying or nasty online in the past 12 months. Teaching students media literacy from a young age would allow them the tools to critically evaluate harmful posts by social influencers such as Andrew Tate.

While I welcome many aspects of AI, it also brings challenges, as others have said. The Internet Watch Foundation recently said that child exploitation is rocketing. Predators are becoming increasingly crafty, and 97% of those victims are girls. This is why we must be very careful about the future. I strongly support the committee’s recommendation that Ofcom work swiftly with platforms to align modernisation policies with its codes and the Online Safety Act 2023.

At times of crisis, we turn to what we trust, and we must trust our news. Independent, accurate news is more vital than ever before in a complicated and fast-changing world where spin, the potential for misuse of AI and those who wish to manipulate, can gain more power. Never has the future of news been more important.