Dacre Role for Regulator is Questioned

The Observer Newspaper reports that some Whitehall sources are concerned about Paul Dacre being shortlisted as a candidate to head up the broadcast and technologies regulator OFCOM. Mr Dacre is the former editor of the Daily Mail newspaper and was in post during some of its most biased and anti-gay reportage. Already, concerns have been expressed that the government is pursuing a Trump style strategy of trying to politicise the broadcast media regulation field, with two women on Channel Four's board barred from reappointment because of their left wing political ideals. Other industry insiders also doubt that Mr Dacre could hold his own in technical discussions that are a key element in OFCOM's role as telecommunications overseeer – for example of novel and new technologies such as 5G.