Culture secretary Lisa Nandy says time is up for media industry
Lisa Nandy has said the media and entertainment industries must change how they protect women and staff from abuse, following the convictions of Russell Brand.
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy has said that "time is up" for the media industry, calling for robust processes that protect women working in television, radio, film and entertainment. Her remarks follow the convictions of Russell Brand in a court case, and they place renewed pressure on employers in the sector to examine how complaints of misconduct are handled.
Nandy's concern centres on the power imbalances that exist within media and entertainment, where those who raise concerns about powerful individuals can face serious consequences for their own reputations and careers. In her view, speaking up too often carries a cost that falls on the person making the allegation rather than on the institutions that employ or work alongside the accused. Her call is for systems in which complaints are taken seriously and in which women are not left to carry the risk of coming forward alone.
The remarks were reported by the Manchester Evening News and the Mirror. Brand was convicted in a court case, but the reporting available does not set out the details of his sentencing, and the specific court findings are not covered in the material available for this article. Nandy's comments address the broader question of industry responsibility rather than the individual case itself, and they are not presented as a verdict on any particular proceeding.
The timing of her intervention matters because it links a high-profile criminal case to the structures that surround people working in the spotlight. Media and entertainment employ large numbers of freelancers, presenters, performers and production staff, many of whom work under short-term contracts and without the same internal protections found in other sectors. Nandy's emphasis on processes suggests her concern extends beyond any single famous name to the everyday arrangements that determine whether a complaint is heard.
Concrete reforms to industry protections have not yet been specified. Nandy has framed her position as a call for change rather than a set of new measures with dates or obligations attached. It remains to be seen how media organisations, production companies and regulators will respond to her call for stronger safeguards, and whether the government will set out any formal expectations for the sector.
Nandy's wider political profile is a separate matter. She has publicly opposed rejoining the European Union, and she is a member of Andy Burnham's cabinet, a position reported in the context of a government that is divided over whether to revisit Brexit at the highest level. Her remarks on the media industry should be understood separately from that debate, which has no bearing on her comments about workplace protections for women.
Source: manchestereveningnews.co.uk
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