By Santiago Bracho
On the 20th of July, Andy Burnham became the Prime Minster of the UK. In the first week of his premiership, he had already signalled greater devolution, election reform and a break with neoliberalism. However, will he enact media reform within the UK?
Currently, the UK media landscape faces notable challenges, including reform to public media, protections against disinformation and the challenge of AI. Within these key issues, a commitment to diversity and inclusion within British media is necessary to promote an environment which represents all citizens.
The BBC Charter Review
Andy Burnham’s premiership quickly ushered in new cabinet appointments. Notably, one cabinet minister who has not changed portfolios since the election of a Labour government in July 2024 is Lisa Nandy, as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (culture secretary). Therefore, the continuation of her role suggests Burnham supports continuity of her policies and vision.
Lisa Nandy’s most prominent role has been oversight of the BBC Charter Review, which started in December 2025. The BBC Charter Review is a multiple year long process to enact key legislative, functional and logistical changes to the BBC. Lisa Nandy has signalled support of reforms which would centre representation and diversity. On the 13th of July, during a Parliamentary select committee hearing on the BBC Charter Review, Nandy claimed she wanted to “remove the political appointments from the [BBC’s] board” and that the Labour government would “almost certainly” pursue worker representation on the BBC board.
Under her ministry the Charter Review process has come under criticism. The Media Reform Coalition (MRC) has called the Charter Review “appallingly opaque”. They specifically called for reform of the Charter Review process, noting how the current “absence of any defined and meaningful public role in debating and deciding the BBC’s Royal Charter urgently needs remedying”. The MRC has also called for the abolishment of the government’s exclusive powers to appoint BBC Board members.
Dr Tom Chivers, Vice-Chair of the MRC, has suggested “the Government should organise a series of citizens’ assemblies across the country, giving randomly selected groups… power to choose what kind of BBC we want. This is the only way to give the BBC’s renewed Royal Charter the democratic legitimacy and public consent necessary”. This would also showcase a diversity of viewpoints and backgrounds within the BBC’s decision-making.
However, the current BBC Charter Review system hinders the promotion of diversity in the media. Dr Chivers emphasises “the most important decisions about the BBC are made in private negotiations between Ministers and BBC executives” under the current system. Unfortunately, current BBC board members and executives are not representative of most British people. For example, the Sutton Trust found in September 2025, “The proportions of privately educated BBC executives has increased by 10 percentage points since 2019” with approximately 38 per cent of BBC executives being privately educated.
Although Nandy has spoken in favour of greater representation in media reform, not enough has been done or planned in this field. Guaranteeing BBC journalists, workers and the public have greater representation on the BBC board appointments would promote a more inclusive environment within British media.
Burnham’s Social Media
Burnham has steadily increased social media production across his personal accounts on TikTok, Instagram and X. This content is largely slice-of-life posts, and positive content promoting successful government policies. It is also a key media strategy to combat harmful social media narratives against the UK Labour government. Burnham himself has already been subject to forms of racist disinformation. After Burnham won his Parliamentary seat in Mackersfield, deep fakes of him promising to house more asylum seekers received millions of views across social media.
Journalist Tom Baldwin wrote in The Guardian how Burnham’s current social media strategy will eventually face larger backlash and boldly claimed positive content cannot contend within social media platforms which he calls “open sewers of hate and lies”.
As Prime Minister, will he focus on legislation to police and prevent harmful content on these platforms and not solely try to use them to promote his policies?
Burnham and AI – The Great Challenge
Perhaps the most noteworthy cabinet appointment in regard to media policy and reform is the new Minister for AI, Kanishka Narayan. During the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi in February 2026, Narayan expressed the “shared responsibility of shaping rules and standards around the technology”. Yet, it appears Narayan’s charge mostly appears to be focused on reindustrialisation and adapting jobs under threat from full AI replacement.
It appears the Ministry of AI has not yet announced or signalled a strategy on how it will combat disinformation, deep fakes and the rise of hateful narratives.
Worryingly, the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) published a report which found “8 in 10 [major] AI Chatbots were regularly willing to assist users in planning violent attacks”. The prompts to test these Chatbots specifically mentioned racist attacks and attacks on Synagogues, highlighting the heightened risks ethnic and religious minorities face. The CCDH has called for the government to bring AI Chatbots within the scope of the Online Safety Act.
The Ministry of AI will have to address these issues, which have become more urgent with AI’s ability to create or enhance images and videos that promote mis- and disinformation already contributing to racist attacks across the UK, such as the 2024 summer riots.
The Necessity for Media Reform
Burnham’s first week leading the government has shown some positive steps towards media reform, and a smarter inclusive social media communication strategy. Nevertheless, issues of media ownership in addition to the incredible rise of online disinformation and racist divisive attacks have to be addressed appropriately.
In order to improve social cohesion in the UK, it is essential to use legislation such as the Online Safety Act, as well as the Ministry of AI and The BBC Charter Review to protect diverse groups which are targeted, and to create a more balanced and representative media landscape.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Media Diversity Institute. Any question or comment should be addressed to [email protected] of the Media Diversity Institute (MDI).
