Flickr / Gary Hayes.Some rights reserved. There isn't a free press in Britain: mainstream media is dominated by a small number of oligarchs – politically motivated owners – subverting our democratic system. And if we continue to fail in challenging this concentration of media ownership, we run the risk of yielding to one of the most unaccountable and effective forms of political power and influence in modern Britain.
It is to that end why the new Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn and deputy leader, Tom Watson are voices to support in the debate backing urgent measures to tackle media power and to help push for media plurality.
On Saturday, Corbyn took the immediate opportunity to warn the press in his victory speech, appealing to journalists to leave the people who are not in the limelight alone under all circumstances. He commented on the appalling levels of abuse towards his family during the campaign and that it had been, “intrusive, abusive and wrong”. With some journalists in the mainstream media reliant on an ad hominem argument or smears with no factual basis when attacking left-wing journalists, Corbyn in the first few days as Labour leader rightfully refused to speak to the Daily Mail and The Sun amongst other papers who are unrepresentative and unfair when reporting on his politics. But his silence speaks volumes in the discussion that more needs to be done in order for public trust to be re-established in the media.
