27th May 2007

On Friday 25th May the Green party-sponsored Coffee House Discussion at Star Anise Cafe in Stroud asked "Does the media enslave or liberate us?"

Photo: Andy Reed, Prof Epstein and Richard Tierney

Stroud Town councillor and freelance journalist Andy Read chaired the discussion with Cheltenham-based Richard Tierney, Managing Director of the Gloucestershire Media Group and Debbie Epstein, a Professor of Social Studies at Cardiff University who lives in  Wotton.

Richard Tierney posed questions about deregulation of the media and the possible opportunities of new independent media, while Professor Epstein, who has written papers on chat shows like Oprah and the Jerry Springer Show looked at the influence of the media in our lives.

Philip Booth, the local Green party's media contact who joined the debate said afterwards: "Those attending debated how far our public sector broadcasting can be trusted, how independent it really is and how far the internet can broaden or narrow our news. Can we really expect climate change to be reported by newspapers that rely on holiday and car adverts to survive? Or the news reporting to be fair when papers are owned by powerful individuals or corporations not even based in this country. Since all three main political parties now have virtually identical policies the quality of debate has also diminished. All this can lead to even less interest in the political process. What are the alternatives to mainstream media? How can we trust these? The evening ended up posing many more questions than answers."