Making Sense of Media Advisory Panel
The Making Sense of Media Advisory Panel informs Ofcom's work to help improve the online skills, knowledge and understanding of UK adults and children. The Panel provides first-class insight to support and challenge our thinking.
Our Panel focuses on the following activities:
- Sounding board and critical friend: representing a range of perspectives, the Panel will advise and challenge our media literacy work.
- Connector: the Panel will help connect Ofcom to the right expertise at the right time, so our work is informed by best practice across the sector.
- Horizon scanning: the Panel will support our thinking on emerging media literacy opportunities and challenges, such as those brought about by new consumer technology. It will highlight new themes or trends to consider, particularly where Ofcom has an opportunity to intervene early.
The Panel is a voluntary forum. Members are appointed by Ofcom for an initial term of 24 months, and they will be expected to commit no more than two-and-a-half days a year.
Members
Job title: Head of Public Policy, UK and Ireland
Organisation: YouTube
Iain Bundred is the UK and Ireland lead for all policy issues relating to YouTube. He works with the wider Google government affairs and public policy teams in London and Dublin, as well as the YouTube leadership teams in the UK, the EU and the US.
Iain also holds a wealth of experience in corporate and public affairs, becoming PR managing director of EAME corporate (including a role as head of strategy for Ogilvy Africa) and then EMEA managing director in 2017.
Job title: CEO
Organisation: Internet Matters
Carolyn Bunting has been CEO of Internet Matters since it started in 2014. IM is a collective of tech companies who join to help parents and professionals keep their children safe online. Funded by the tech companies, IM is fiercely independent and has a good view on what they are thinking.
Internet Matters founded and still chairs the UKCIS Vulnerable Users Working Group which brings together experts from around the UK to tackle the opportunities and challenges CYP with vulnerabilities face online.
Job title: Head of Tech Forecasting
Organisation: BBC
Since 2019, Laura Ellis has been working on establishing and communicating the BBC's long-term technology perspective. She seeks to ensure that the BBC derives the best value from new and emerging technology through working effectively with internal and external partners on creation, delivery, and development. She is also one of the BBC’s founder members of a cross-industry coalition on media provenance called Project Origin – established to help tackle disinformation.
Previously she headed the BBC’s Digital England team, where she led a team of journalists and pioneered work on technology-supported journalism such as automated content, personalisation, and an ethical approach to machine learning.
Job title: Policy Programmes Manager, UK and Ireland
Organisation: Meta
Sophie England currently leads all external UK and Ireland programmes and partnerships for Facebook related to policy agenda covering work around economic impact, safety of vulnerable groups, the metaverse (XR) and youth and wellbeing.
She also brings similar experience from her previous role in forming the Albright Academy – an education, skills, and community online and offline platform for female entrepreneurs and women in business across the UK.
Job title: Senior Manager, Government and Public Affairs
Organisation: The LEGO Group
Kate Gillingham is Head of UK Government and Public Affairs at The LEGO Group, a role she has held since October 2020 – in which she manages various aspects of The LEGO Group’s external engagement in the UK including around digital issues. She previously worked for 3 years at consumer group Which? where she was Principal Policy Advisor for digital life.
She also brings an extensive range of experience in public affairs, most principally as Private Secretary to the Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change between 2012-2014.
Job title: Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist
Organisation: stem4, South London and Maudsley Mental Health Trust
Richard Graham is a Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist and a former Clinical Director at the Tavistock Clinic. For the last five years, he was Clinical Director for Good Thinking: London’s Digital Mental Wellbeing Service.
He has worked extensively in digital health and e-safety for the last 12 years and is recognised as a digital health pioneer. Since 2012, he has been actively involved with the UK Council for Internet Safety (the British Government’s principal advisory body for online safety and security) and co-chairs its Digital Resilience Working Group. He also works with the BBC as Digital Well-being Consultant to the Own It App, as well as acting as an adviser to companies such as TikTok and Yubo.
Job title: Head of Schools Programmes
Organisation: National Literacy Trust
Since 2021, Tim Judge has been responsible for developing and delivering education programmes that motivate and engage young people to improve their literacy. These programmes draw on exciting partnerships across sports, culture and broadcasting sectors and include the flagship partnerships with Premier League, Football Association, Comic Relief, and the BBC.
In his previous role, he worked as a Programme Manager for Teach First. He was directly responsible for the strategic planning and management of a programme that empowered 500 teachers to work in some of the most disadvantaged London schools.
Job title: Professor of Social Psychology
Organisation: London School of Economics and Political Science
Sonia Livingstone – DPhil (Oxon), OBE, FBA, FBPS, FAcSS, FRSA – is a professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is primarily concerned with Children’s Rights in the Digital Age.
Sonia currently directs the Digital Futures Commission (with the 5Rights Foundation) and the Global Kids Online project (with UNICEF). She also contributes to the euCONSENT project, and leads work packages for two European H2020-funded projects: ySKILLS (Youth Skills) and CO:RE (Children Online: Research and Evidence). She is also a #SaferInternet4EU Ambassador for the European Commission.
Job title: Research and Development Director
Organisation: Parent Zone
Cliff Manning has over twenty years’ experience developing digital services that enable people to connect with others and learn. As R&D Director at Parent Zone, Cliff is exploring ways to improve outcomes for children in a connected world through improved services for families and turn to professionals. He also founded More Than Robots – a platform to share research, ideas and good practice around digital participation and youth engagement.
Job title: Regional Lead, UK, Ireland, Southern Europe and Israel
Organisation: TikTok
Caroline Millin-Brawn’s current role is within Tik-Tok’s Trust & Safety team, where she is primarily responsible for leading Product Policy in the UK, Ireland, Southern Europe, and Israel.
She also brings a huge wealth of experience in leading policy output for other digital platforms, having previously worked for both Instagram and Facebook before joining Tik-Tok.
Job title: Digital Wellbeing Consultant
Organisation: Sentient Digital Consulting
Georgina Powell is Founder of Sentient Digital, a Responsible Technology & Digital Wellbeing Consultancy. She works to better understand our relationship with technology, so that we can use it more positively and productively.
At Sentient, Georgie has supported clients such as Google, the Charity for Civil Servants, the UK Government Services Department and O2 to help guide their product development, people, and policy practices with digital wellbeing in mind.
Job title: Head of Policy and Advocacy
Organisation: Full Fact
Since 2020, Glen Tarman has led Full Fact’s policy and advocacy team and is responsible for securing changes from those in governments, parliaments, the media, internet companies and beyond that influence people’s exposure to bad information and its harms.
He has a huge abundance of experience in the not-for-profit sector, with over 25 years working in advocacy, campaigning, policy, communications and digital for charities and international development, human rights, and environmental NGOs.
Please email us to request a copy of the meeting minutes.