National Viewers' and Listeners' Association
{{Short description|UK media standards pressure group}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{COI|date=July 2019}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Mediawatch-UK
| image = MediaWatch-UK logo.png
| caption = Final version of the Mediawatch-UK logo
| formation = 1965
| dissolved = 2021
| status = Non-profit organisation
| purpose = Pressure group
| location =
| region_served = United Kingdom
| membership =
| leader_title = Director
| leader_name = Elizabeth Evenden-Kenyon
| main_organ =
| parent_organization =
| affiliations =
| budget =
| website =
}}
Mediawatch-UK, formerly known as the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association (National VALA or NVLA), was an advocacy group in the United Kingdom, which campaigned against the publication and broadcast of media content that it viewed as harmful, blasphemous and offensive, such as sex, violence, and profanity.
History
NVLA was founded in 1965 by Mary Whitehouse to succeed the earlier Clean-Up TV Campaign, which Whitehouse co-founded with her husband Ernest and the Reverend Basil and Norah Buckland early in the previous year.{{cite news|title=Mary Whitehouse Obituary|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/tv-radio-obituaries/6605110/Mary-Whitehouse.html|accessdate=4 July 2016|publisher=The Telegraph|date=24 November 2001}} NVLA Vice President was Christian activist and educationalist, Charles Oxley.{{Cite web|title=Mary Whitehouse and Charles Oxley, of media pressure group the...|url=https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/mary-whitehouse-and-charles-oxley-of-media-pressure-group-news-photo/110961145|access-date=2021-03-21|website=Getty Images|language=en-gb}} Whitehouse remained the group's leader until 1994, when she was succeeded by John Beyer. NVLA changed its name to Mediawatch-UK in 2001.
Mediawatch-UK monitored traditional broadcast channels, as well as social and digital media, published reports about programme content, and responded to Government and other consultations on broadcasting and digital policy. It argued for greater parliamentary accountability in recognising and tackling the risks inherent in digital platforms. It also highlighted the need for both governments and individual households to be proactive, not just reactive, in monitoring risks online.
The organisation closed down and was dissolved as a company on 7 September 2021 following an application by three directors on 12 June of that year to strike the company off the Register.{{Cite web |title=CHILDREN AND FAMILIES MEDIA EDUCATION TRUST overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/07719477 |website=find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk}}
Campaigns
=Pornography=
Along with around 400 others Mediawatch-UK responded to a Home Office consultation concerning extreme pornography in December 2005. In the Mediawatch-UK response{{cite web|url=http://www.mediawatchuk.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=238&Itemid=100 |title=For Family Values in the Media |website=Mediawatch-UK |date=20 June 2014 |accessdate=7 July 2016 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209154550/http://www.mediawatchuk.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=238&Itemid=100 |archivedate=9 February 2012 }} it was suggested that the possession of allegedly "hard-core" pornography, as currently classified R18 by the British Board of Film Classification and, therefore, legally sold in high street sex shops (R18 classification), should be included in the range of extreme pornography that is the subject of the Home Office consultation. It is proposed that possession of extreme material would become a criminal offence punishable by up to 3 years in prison.{{update-inline|date=October 2022}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{External links|date=October 2022}}
- [http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityFramework.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=1145460 UK Charity Commission registered number: 1145460 - CHILDREN AND FAMILIES MEDIA EDUCATION TRUST (a.k.a. "MEDIAWATCH UK") - working in Scotland]
- [https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07719477 Companies House info on company number: 07719477 - CHILDREN AND FAMILIES MEDIA EDUCATION TRUST (a.k.a. "MEDIAWATCH UK"). Incorporated: 27 July 2011. Nature of business: Other education not elsewhere classified]
- [https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crime-england-and-wales-2016-to-2017/ Home Office report, 2016-17]
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Category:1965 establishments in the United Kingdom
Category:2021 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Category:Organizations established in 1965
Category:Organizations disestablished in 2021
Category:Censorship of broadcasting in the United Kingdom
Category:Lobbying organisations in the United Kingdom
Category:Organisations that oppose LGBTQ rights in the United Kingdom