Strange Moments with VLV (3).

In its current annual plan Ofcom denotes a new work stream reviewing the way it approaches its duty to ‘further the interests of citizens in relation to communications’. But it has said nothing publicly about what this work stream includes. The grapevine says that the Ofcom Board held a half day seminar recently at which its approach to citizens’ interests was thoroughly discussed, based on an acknowledgement that it perhaps had been less successful there than on consumer issues.

Asked at today’s Voice of the Listener and Viewer conference whether Ofcom would now publicly acknowledge this and if so, what actions it would take, Stephen Carter at first denied that such a meeting had taken place, saying that his recollection was of a discussion on phone slamming and other telephony protection issues. Pressed again he hastily abandoned that tack and said that if he was being asked whether Ofcom accepted it had not served the citizen interest on broadcasting content issues his answer was a round ‘no’, and that was also the Board’s position.

So that clears that up, then.