Puttnam hits back on the media killing field

He's challenged Labour over changes to foreign ownership rules and now he's taking on a hostile press

Lord Puttnam, the film producer turned Government adviser, is unassuming in the flesh but far from reticent in his views on the media. The Oscar-winning producer of Chariots of Fire and The Killing Fields is irritated by the quality and integrity of the press.

"My problem with the media is that I have enormously high expectations and that I am consistently disappointed."

He has recently headed a committee that scrutinised and commented on the Government's proposed Communications Bill. This legislation will change the rules on who can own the UK's newspapers and TV stations and who will regulate them.

Media coverage of the committee's 170-page report has focused on the issue of foreign ownership of our TV stations. At present, companies from outside the European Union aren't allowed to own terrestrial stations like ITV and Channel 5. The Government is proposing to scrap this law.

But Lord Puttnam's committee recommends that it delays this decision to allow the proposed new media regulator, Ofcom, to investigate more thoroughly. It says sufficient evidence has not yet been provided of the benefits, such as increased investment, or that risks like a lower quality of programming have been addressed. "Once you've made the decision to allow foreign ownership of the media, there's no going back," he says. "You can't reverse it a few years later in the light of experience."

The Government has said it isn't taking any notice, though whether Parliament will agree is less certain.

Lord Puttnam says, however, that this recommendation has been misinterpreted as anti-American. He says the committee simply wants proof that it is the right thing to do to open up our media sector and not just based on free market ideology.

To demonstrate his pro-American credentials he points to his work with US film studios, which included a stint as the head of Columbia Pictures in the 1980s. And while he expressed concerns about the cultural dominance of Hollywood in his book The Undeclared War, he also criticised European efforts to artificially block the US celluloid influx.

Nevertheless, a recent Financial Times article, under the title "Chariots of bilge", delivered a stinging attack on the report and its "prejudice" against the US.

Lord Puttnam hits back: "For the FT to accuse me and the committee of being blinkered is outrageous, because we did our homework. We did weeks and weeks of homework. Whoever wrote that FT leader hadn't given it 30 seconds' thought. And that hurts. That's why it is wrong."

Lord Puttnam is particularly irritated, as a self-confessed "newspaper junkie", because his father was a Press Association reporter. "If you get a sense of anger in some of the things I say, it's because I can't bear journalistic ignorance or apathy. My dad was a journalist. He was a lovely man. He took the role of being the messenger really seriously."

His views are reflected in the committee's report, which says the Bill should state that takeovers of all forms of media could be blocked on grounds of public interest and plurality, including the accuracy and integrity of news provision. It also recommends that the self-regulation of the media is encouraged – but that Parliament and Ofcom should be able to intervene if the self-regulatory body is not doing its job.

He thinks the success of the Communications Bill will depend on the new regulator having powers that aren't present in the Bill as it stands.

In a speech last month to the Edinburgh Television Festival, he hit out at previously fickle government regulation that has allowed media barons like Rupert Murdoch, the Australian owner of The Sun, The Times and BSkyB, to bypass our regulations with ease.

"You need a regulatory regime that when it says it is going to act, it does. And you don't get hit with a £5,000 fine or even a £1m fine. You may well be out of business for good," he says.

"The nature of the relationship between media owners and the Government has been distorted because the media owners know the Government won't use the red card because there are too many other political considerations."

Lord Puttnam is also concerned about whether Ofcom will have enough money to employ "world-class lawyers". He points to the US, where well-funded regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission aren't afraid of fighting the private sector when required. "In America, what you have is vigorous movement where the private sector pushes but the govern- ment has the capacity to push back even harder. That's the nature of the relationship and everyone understands it. In Britain we have never developed that. But we have to if we're going to have the sort of vigorous competition the Government claims it wants."

Concerns that Ofcom's future chairman, Lord Currie, will be a Labour crony are dismissed by Lord Puttnam. "I haven't heard one single informed person criticise the appointment," he says.

The two peers are well-known Labour supporters. Lord Puttnam says the Government has not been putting pressure on him over his views on the Bill, though they have had a "healthy argument".

Despite his influential role in the media, Lord Puttnam is more deeply involved in education policy. He is soon to hand over the chairmanship of the General Teaching Council, but still acts as an adviser to Estelle Morris, the Education Secretary.

This experience has heightened his concerns about the media "For five years, my principal job has been going around schools, talking to teachers and kids. There are wonderful people out there doing fantastic jobs. That is not the image of society you receive from the media."

He adds: "You can't blame people if they begin to believe what they read – that they live in an apathetic, negative world."

To highlight the improvements in the education system, he points out that it is now an aim to improve the self-esteem of the child, which was not an objective when he was a child and left grammar school in the 1950s with just three O-levels and little encouragement.

"At my last meeting at school with the careers master, he suggested that I be a sales rep as it was the only way I could own a motor car."

Lord Puttnam now has two cars – an Audi A4 and a Range Rover. Not to mention the odd Oscar and Bafta award.