Guilding The Media

Matt Smith writes:

The 'alleged' dark deeds of News Corp have now emerged both sides of the Atlantic. The 'phone hacking' media storms have served to provide rare glimpses into the corrupt relationship between the political class and corporate institutions. Once comfortable relationships have turned into bitter attacks, as with the case of New Labour. Or too politically costly to fully sustain, as with the Tories. Stories of the media spying on victims of crime, bribing high ranking police and the political class pondering to the needs of the group have fully exposed the reality of an all powerful and corrupt media. I would like to contribute to debate by pointing out that the political influence obtained by News Corp would of be immense value to the corporate class wishing to press home interest upon the government.

The media storm has stimulated a debate around media ownership and I would like to make a brief case for the Guild Socialist model being applied to the sector. It should now be clear that no individual or small group should own a news paper, let alone a media empire. The media is a unique sector which yields huge political power with the ability to shape national values and opinions. In addition the media group now has the ability to hijack the political class. This can only be changed by altering the ownership model of the sector.

Media ownership reform has three possible solutions:
• Share ownership; this form of ownership leads to elite takeovers and corruption of interests and has lead to the problems we face.
• Public ownership; is not feasible as media and politics must be distinct to maintain the independence of the press.
• Democratic ownership: in my opinion the only sensible solution is to place the media under social or worker ownership, being operated democratically. This way no individual has ultimate control over the media and able to yield its’ influence over the political class. A Guild Socialist system of the democratic workplaces integrated into a Guild, charged with regulating the industry is well suited for the sectors. The Guild would serves to keep the division between the media and the politics distinct.