§ Mr. Bendallasked the Secretary of State for Defence for what purposes his Department has made a grant of £98,000 to the University of Cardiff to study media relations during the Falklands conflict; and whether he will arrange for any material from the study to be made available to the Defence Committee for the purposes of its own inquiry into the same subject.
§ Mr. BlakerThe study which we have commissioned from the centre for journalism studies at University College, Cardiff is to examine the relationship between the Ministry of Defence, including the Armed Forces, and the media in time of armed conflict, with especial reference to the recent Falklands campaign. It is designed to provide an in-depth analysis drawing on historical experience at Suez and in Vietnam and the Lebanon and is intended to complement the report of the Select Committee on Defence.
University College, Cardiff will produce a final report in December 1984 which either in full or in part is likely to be published by the college and therefore will be available to members of the Committee.