Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are taking to ensure that there is a diverse range of independent news media voices across all platforms.

The Government consulted on the scope of a measurement framework for media plurality in July 2013. We published our response to that consultation in August 2014; our response also addressed the recommendations of the Lords' Communications Committee report into plurality. In our response, we set out the scope of a measurement framework for media plurality and subsequently commissioned Ofcom to develop this, informed by a suitable set of indicators. The Government has been clear that it will not consider changing the existing regulatory framework for media plurality until the measurement framework and a baseline assessment have been delivered. I understand that Ofcom plans to consult on their proposals for a measurement framework early in the New Year and hopes to publish its conclusions in summer 2015.