Sharon White, chief executive of the British media regulator Ofcom since March 2015.Ofcom.The one thing there is no shortage of in the UK Parliament is political meetings, select committee hearings and protests, demonstrations, petitions, arguments, consultations. Select committee reports can have their moment in the media if the findings are controversial enough, but for the most part when the meeting is over, or the protestors have gone home, any impact rapidly fades.
The meeting that assembled in the Boothroyd room in Portcullis House, under the gaze of the former Speaker’s bust and portrait, the day before the BBC published its top talent pay details, may however turn out to be different.
By any standards the title was unprepossessing, almost understated, giving little hint in advance of the passion that was unleashed: “The Urgency of Representation in the Media.” It could have been the title of a learned contribution to an obscure academic journal. But there are several clear reasons why the arguments set out in just over an hour, under the chairmanship of Channel 4 presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy, might have a lasting effect.
