On November 23, Ofcom will be running a conference on its New News, Future News document, launched back in July. And I know that blood-thickening intro will make you think – Jeez, I’m not going to read more – please, READ MORE!

I’ve already pointed out Ofcom’s failure to adequately investigate the figure quoted for the ITV News contract which has shrunk to some £30m – not the £42m of the PR releases. The difference between those two numbers and Ofcom’s failure to get to grips with the bleeding to death of commercial television news is a big cause for concern for anyone in the industry assessing its effectiveness as a public service defender.

Still the conference, with the Reuters Institute, promises to be an interesting event. Not least because it includes one of my favourite claims that “The future of news is of vital importance to an informed democracy, and is central to any discussion about the role of public service broadcasting…”

Television’s ability to perform that informing role (and its necessity given our rather occasional democracy) has always seemed to me utterly questionable (and look, I love TV). In today’s digital environment I’m much more convinced the answer to informing the public lies in making information available for consumption in a much more detailed form. Ofcom’s own jargon-filled website is not a good example.

What do I mean by making information publicly available? Take information on something as dull as the siting of mobile phone masts. Wouldn’t it be helpful if we knew where they were situated? A little mashup of a database from the phone companies and something from Google Maps could do the trick. Easy.

Oh yes, Ofcom hosts just such a site – imaginatively called Sitefinder. It is a classic piece of under-resourced, poorly signposted stuff that when you click on it will communicate visually the message “we are doing this because we have to” perfectly, whilst the verbal assurance that accompanies it is “we remain committed to providing the Sitefinder service to citizens and consumers.”

And Ofcom is currently challenging the Information Commissioner in the High Court over the release of data for the site.

So take the “informed democracy” stuff with a pinch of salt, because if you want the truth, understand this – you can’t handle the truth.