The media’s regulatory bodies aside, there is no dedicated public news monitoring instrument. However, a number of media monitoring organizations subject the news media to critical scrutiny (see CI below). Moreover, two parliamentary institutions hold the media and media policy accountable, the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sports Committee and the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications, both of which have a cross-party membership. Recently, the House of Commons Culture, Media and Report Committee (2010) produced a report on press standards, privacy and libel, which is quite critical and suggests some important reform measures. The House of Lords Select Committee on Communications (2008a and 2008b) conducted a probing inquiry into the quality of UK news media and produced a comprehensive and revealing snapshot of the current state of the UK news media’s industry structure. The report includes perspectives from all sides in the debate about the quality of news output. This can be taken as evidence of a system that is democratically accountable and transparent (both reports are posted on the web).
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