Paul Dacre, the government’s preferred candidate, has ruled himself out of reapplying for the Ofcom chair in a process widely seen as being re-run specifically to get him elected. It was no secret Dacre, long time editor of right-leaning Daily Mail and major BBC critic, was ministers’ preferred pick. Indeed the ‘independent’ interview panel they […]
Paul Dacre will be offered another chance to become chair Ofcom, ministers have confirmed, according to The Guardian. Ministers have wanted to appoint the former Daily Mail editor since the vacancy emerged. Having appointed a sympathetic selection panel Dacre was unexpectedly rejected as even this panel deemed him “not appointable” following interview. This even though […]
Julian Knight, Chair of the UK parliament’s DCMS Committee has called for the government to rule out candidates previously deemed to be unappointable from applying again for the post of Chair of Ofcom, a clear reference to the potential renewed candidacy of former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre. The re-running of the recruitment process to […]
George Orwell’s dystopian future world of a sinister, mind-controlling dictatorship is often called upon as an analogy for political shenanigans in ‘the real world’. Usually, the comparison is overblown and inaccurate, and I’m not going to break with that tradition. However, the UK government’s manipulation of the ‘independent’ appointment of the chair of the media […]
Former culture secretary Ed Vaizey could be on the shortlist of candidates to chair communications regulator Ofcom, according to Reuters. Officials at the government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport will narrow the list of applicants this week ahead of final interviews. Ofcom’s responsibilities will expand in the coming years; It will become responsible […]