NMA Hosts Lunch For Sir Peter Bazalgette

ITV chairman Sir Peter Bazalgette was the guest at a News Media Association lunch attended by local and national news media publishers last week.

A wide range of topics were discussed at the lunch at the NMA’s offices including areas where the news media and commercial broadcast sector may work together more closely.   

In November, Sir Peter warned that an internet governed by Google is “a danger to society,” The Sun reported. 

Sir Peter said Google had an “extraordinary monopoly” on advertising, and pointed out in many countries it does not pay tax at the same level as other companies.

He added: “The online world with all its benefits now represents a clear and present danger to civil society. We are being influenced and in some cases you could say even governed by people who are not in this country.”

He told the Voice Of The Listener And Viewer conference in London: “The overall challenge of the internet giants, of whom there are now four or five, that is a very serious economic, cultural and democratic issue and we haven’t begun to tackle it.”

Sir Peter also pointed out that there are many restrictions on TV advertising yet virtually none for online ads.