The Future of News (Communications and Digital Committee Report)

Lord Bishop of Oxford Excerpts

Friday 25th April 2025 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Bishop of Oxford]

My Lords, I welcome this timely report and this debate. The themes of the report—ethics, truth, access and trust—are of vital importance to the Lords spiritual, as I know they are to all Members of your Lordships’ House. My right reverend friend the Bishop of Leeds was part of the committee that produced this report, and he sends his apologies that he is unable to be in the Chamber today. I, too, congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Pack, on his fascinating maiden speech on email newsletters and new forms of communication, and I welcome him very warmly from these Benches to this House.

I have had an interesting response to the report, as I have read it today, and it has really been appreciative of the wonder of living in an age in which, at any hour of the day or night, it is possible to learn what is happening anywhere in the world. I think that is amazing. We are able to access unfolding events, combined with thoughtful commentary and analysis. This week, the world has rightly been paying tribute to Pope Francis, following his death on Monday, for his humility, humanity and courage. Within minutes of the Pope’s death on Monday, we had not only the news that he had, sadly, died but appreciations of his life, comments from world leaders, analysis of his many achievements and a sense of one single news story across the world. The same is true day by day, minute by minute. This report has helped me see afresh the living miracle of the 21st century news environment. So I join others in paying tribute to the media reporters and technicians who devote their lives to public service and good journalism.

The report is, of course, right that the news ecology is evolving and needs tending carefully by government and others. I will stress three of the recommendations as particularly vital and important. The first is the importance, as others have said, of nurturing and supporting the local alongside the global—essential for building resilience, participation and cohesion in communities. I particularly draw attention to the importance of local radio. I welcome the Government’s response and the news of the forthcoming local media strategy, and I too ask the Minister when that strategy might be available. Will it help in particular to arrest the decline in BBC local services that we have seen in recent years?

The second is to highlight recommendation 14: the suggested development by the BBC of a public interest generative AI tool, in partnership with others, to access reliable and authoritative information. This would be a really historic and strategic development to ensure a trusted source for the deployment of generative AI as a complement to commercial and multinational services. It has been suggested by other bodies that this recommendation does not feature in the Government’s response, and I wonder whether the Minister can offer a comment.

The third is to underscore the vital importance of building media literacy among every section of the population, not only the young, as the news media changes and evolves—that is recommendation 37(4). It was good to see the Government’s very full response to this recommendation through a number of different strands. Can the Minister offer an update on the progress of the media literacy review and the place of media literacy in the schools curriculum and assessment review?

We are privileged to live in an information age, which will continue to evolve. We need government to remain vigilant in cultivating this news ecology and diligent in equipping all citizens to navigate this world well. I welcome this report.