Fine Words But Rotten Censors…Ofcom make a submission to the Leveson Inquiry advocating industry self regulation

Read more Ofcom Watch at MelonFarmers.co.uk

See article from guardian.co.uk See Ofcom Submission to the Leveson Inquiry  [pdf] from media.ofcom.org.uk

In a paper submitted to the Leveson inquiry, the TV and radio censor, Ofcom, said reform of press regulation can be achieved if the body which takes over from the Press Complaints Commission is set up with a more robust framework and the power to impose proper sanctions on errant newspapers. Ofcom added: Properly constituted, effective and independent self-regulation could be the basis of a new model of press regulation. But the censor said that in order for self-regulation to work certain elements of the new regime, such as rules governing membership, may need to be recognised by a statute. In the areas of membership and governance, there could be concerns about whether self-regulation would be sufficient to develop a system with genuine legitimacy and capable of building public trust. A minimal enabling statute — or recognition in statute — could be necessary in these areas.

Internet Companies Asked to Pro-actively Censor Social Media…Government committee seems to envy Chinese censorship of the press and internet

Read more UK Parliament Watch at MelonFarmers.co.uk

See press release from parliament.uk

In a report published on 27th March 2012, Parliament’s Joint Committee on Privacy and Injunctions says Parliament should not introduce any new privacy statute. It concludes that in weighing the competing rights to privacy and freedom of expression, each case must be judged on its own merits. The bar for limiting freedom of expression must be set high, but the Committee says that the courts are now striking a better balance in dealing with applications for privacy injunctions. It rejects criticism that privacy law has been judge-made, noting that it evolved from the Human Rights Act. The Committee says the most important step towards improving protection of privacy is to provide for enhanced censorship of the media. The Press Complaints Commission lacked the power, sanctions or independence to be truly effective. Substantial changes to press regulation are needed to ensure that it encompasses all major news publishers including, in time, major bloggers. The reformed media censor should: Have access to a wider range of sanctions, including the power to fine; be cost-free to complainants be able to determine the size and location of a published apology, and the date of publication play a greater role in arbitrating and mediating privacy disputes The body dealing with complaints should include representatives who have experience of working in the print media, but should not include any full-time employees of news publishers or individuals who have a demonstrable conflict of interest. To make self-regulation work, all publishers must sign up to the new regulator. One possible mechanism the Committee suggests is for advertisers to agree to advertise only in publications that are members of the press regulator and subscribe to its rules. A standing commission comprising members of both Houses of Parliament should be established to scrutinise industry-led press reforms and to report on them to Parliament. If the industry fails to establish an independent regulator which commands public confidence, the Government should seriously consider establishing some form of statutory oversight. This could involve giving Ofcom or another body overall statutory responsibility for press regulation, the day-to-day running of which it could then devolve to a self-regulatory body. The Committee says that major internet corporations should take active steps to limit the potential for breaches of court orders through use of their products and, if they fail to do so, legislation should be introduced to force them to. In addition, the Attorney General should be more willing to bring actions for civil contempt of court in respect of injunctions being breached online. It also concludes that parliamentarians should ensure that material subject to an injunction is only revealed in Parliament when there is good reason to do so. Gratuitous or repeated revelation of such information could lead to new parliamentary rules to prevent it. The media must be legally protected when reporting Parliament, and so qualified privilege should apply to the reporting of all proceedings in Parliament.

A Pressing Need for Change…Press Complaints Commission to undergo a rapid reformation before Leveson makes his report

Read more PCC Watch at MelonFarmers.co.uk

See article from independent.co.uk

The Press Complaints Commission is to close itself down in a fast-tracked programme that will kill off the name of the PCC, abandon its current structures and governance, and establish a new regulatory body that will be in place well before Lord Justice Leveson delivers his report on the press at the end of this year. The accelerated close down was formally discussed at a full meeting of the commission chaired by Lord Hunt in London. Details of the formal close-down date and the potential names of the new body are expected to be revealed in six weeks when the full minutes of the meeting are approved and published shortly afterwards. Earlier this week Hunt is understood to have told some of his close Westminster colleagues of the imminent demise of the PCC. Hunt discussed the urgent need to have a new authority in place and functioning well ahead of the first draft and any early recommendations from Lord Justice Leveson. Simply stealing a march on anything Leveson might say was how one MP described the goodbye to the PCC.

A PCC PC Tangle…PCC asked to adjudicate over a press article about discriminatory haredi/charedi jews saying that they are discriminatory

Read more PCC Watch at MelonFarmers.co.uk

See article from thejc.com

The Press Complaints Commission has rejected claims that a Jewish Chronicle (JC) column by Professor Geoffrey Alderman breached accuracy and discrimination rules. His article about the segregation of men and women, published on October 29 2011, included the claim that it is well known that Charedi men are notorious harassers of the opposite sex. According to one complainant the reference could not be substantiated and was inaccurate. But the PCC found that because the column was written from Professor Alderman’s perspective, it was clear to readers that the content reflected his views and experiences. The PCC also cleared the JC over the claim that it was discriminatory to suggest that Charedim were notorious for committing such acts. Chris Paget, a complaints officer at the PCC said: The article did not make a prejudicial or pejorative reference to the religion of a particular individual, but rather expressed the columnist’s views on Charedi men in general. To come to an inevitably subjective judgment as to whether such material is tasteless or offensive would amount to the Commission acting as a moral arbiter, which can lead to censorship.

The Old Guard Marched Off the Premises…Director of the PCC stands down at the end of the month

Read more PCC Watch at MelonFarmers.co.uk

See press release from pcc.org.uk

Stephen Abell, the Director of the Press Complaints Commission since the beginning of 2010, has announced that he will be leaving the PCC at the end of February. He is leaving to become a partner at Pagefield communications consultancy, where he will take responsibility for media relations and crisis communication. Lord Hunt, Chair of the PCC, said: When I joined the PCC last year, Stephen and I agreed that we would work together until we were in a position to propose a new structure for self-regulation of the press. I have valued his assistance in this, and his professionalism in leading the PCC’s staff as they continued their important work during a difficult period. It is testament to him that the service to complainants, both those in the public eye and those without claim to celebrity, has improved and expanded over the last few years. I wish him success in all his future endeavours. The PCC has appointed Michael McManus, who has wide experience in the worlds of journalism and politics, as Director of Transition. He will continue the work on ongoing proposals for reformed, independent self-regulation of the press. He will be part of a new senior team at the PCC, including Director of Communications Jonathan Collett and Charlotte Dewar, who has been promoted to Head of Complaints and Pre-Publication Services. Stephen Abell said: It has been a great privilege to work over the years with the committed, wonderful staff and board members of the PCC. I have been involved with the PCC for more than a decade, and I decided last year that it was time for a new challenge. First, I wanted to work with David Hunt in the development of positive proposals for a new structure of self-regulation. I believe we have now done that. I also wanted to give a full account of the work of the PCC to Lord Justice Leveson. I remain a firm supporter of enhanced self-regulation for the press, maintaining all that is good about the work of the PCC, and am confident that this will be achieved as a result of the Leveson Inquiry.

Envisaging a Compensation Culture…David Hunt proposes a new press regulator with the ability to fine newspapers that break its rules

Read more PCC Watch at MelonFarmers.co.uk

See article from guardian.co.uk

David Hunt, the new chairman of the Press Complaints Commission has unveiled a blueprint for a totally new newspaper watchdog which he hopes will eradicate bad journalism and practices that have brought shame on the industry. He told the Leveson inquiry that he was, however, flatly opposed to statutory regulation of newspapers, arguing that it would open a Pandora’s box which would give the opportunity to unscrupulous politicians to try to curb the freedom of the press. The new regulatory body proposed by Hunt would have real powers to investigate allegations such as phone hacking, illegal computer hacking or general press intrusion by reporters or paparazzi. It would also have the power to impose fines and award compensation to victims of the press, he said, with newspapers signing binding contracts to adhere to its rulings for five years at a time. The new body would be far more robust than the PCC and be independent of influence by present editors, according to Hunt, with a three-pronged structure involving units providing a swift complaints resolution service, a standards arm and an arbitration operation which would assess damages.

Worthless Kitemarks…PCC to suggest that bloggers should buy into press accuracy standards

Read more PCC Watch at MelonFarmers.co.uk

See article from liberalconspiracy.org

The new PCC chairman Lord Hunt has told journalist David Hencke in an interview: At the moment, it is like the Wild West out there. We need to appoint a sheriff. He’s referring to bloggers. His plan is to invite political bloggers to volunteer for regulation by the PCC’s replacement. Blogs who promise to abide by the new code will get a kitemark of approval. The PCC will be replaced with a body more independent of newspapers, David Hencke is told, and the plans will be presented to the Leveson Inquiry. Lord Hunt tells him: I want accuracy to be the new gold standard for blogs. Once they have agreed to be accurate, everything would follow from that. I would like to see a Kitemark on the best blogs so the public can trust what they read in them. And there’s a catch, bloggers will have to pay to be regulated, like newspapers, reports Jon Slattery. So is the current press ‘accurate’? They just add a final paragraph to a piece saying something like the government refutes all accusations. The PCC kitemark doesn’t seem to stop newspapers from claiming 40,000 trafficked sex workers turn up at world sports events, or that computer games are the root of all evil, or that sexy adverts undermine civilisation, or that a couple of tweets represent an ‘outraged’ nation. Perhaps I should add that all so important balancing paragraph… Mr Man-in-the-Street says that the British press accuracy is the best in the world and is 2nd to none.

Maintaining a Free Press…Chris Patten of the BBC speaks against Ofcom style censorship for the press

Read more BBC and BBC Trust Watch at MelonFarmers.co.uk

Based on article from bbc.co.uk

Speech by Chris Patten, Chairman of the BBC Trust, to the Society of Editors Annual Conference on 13th November 2011. Why the BBC needs a free press I may have in due course to explain the standards we apply to our journalism at the BBC to the Leveson Inquiry. If so, I hope I can make a convincing case that the sort of regulation that covers us is appropriate for broadcasters but would not work for newspapers. There is a kind of symbiosis between the BBC and the press. We do different but complementary things. The BBC depends on the press for some of its news agenda and it gives some stories back to the press to pursue further. The style of the tabloids is not something we could or should try to match. But nor should we be snobbish or squeamish about it. The Sun under Kelvin McKenzie added (to use the word in the old-fashioned sense) to the gaiety of the nation. I still have a copy of The Sun’s front page Up Yours Delors, written of course by our Diplomatic Correspondent. Trevor Kavanagh is plainly one of the outstanding political writers of his generation. I have not always agreed with The Daily Mail (perhaps I am guilty of understatement) but I greatly admired its brave campaign in pursuit of the murderers of Stephen Lawrence and — which I trust won’t annoy him too much — I try not to miss Quentin Letts. It may be that I have always been more relaxed about the tabloids than some former political colleagues because I have never been convinced that they set the political agenda decisively. I used to be the Chairman of the Conservative Party. When after the election in 1992 we heard that it was the Sun wot won it, I reflected on the fact that our polling throughout the election campaign had shown that most of the public and its readers thought it was a Labour newspaper. Max Hastings is right to argue that political leaders demean themselves by the amount that they court the press. Looking back over the years it is clear that at least one very famous proprietor waited until it was pretty plain who would win an election and then threw his weight behind the predicted victor. So I have no wish to turn our tabloids into trimmed down versions of The Church Times. Their vigour is an important part of the liveliness of our democracy. Free speech, and therefore that vitality, would truly be damaged if a single group of people, beholden to and perhaps even appointed by politicians, were to have the power to decide what should or should not be published. Statutory regulation of the press would in my view be more than wrong-headed, it would pose a real danger to the public discourse that underpins our democracy. Only the press can reform the press So the responsibility to ensure high standards of professionalism rests with journalists, their editors and their proprietors. My rather prosaic conclusion is that newspapers have to be given the chance to find their own solution — although I note that already there is talk of Ombudsmen and backstop powers to help make any new system work. But how can you give a system of self-regulation — a form of accountability that newspapers invariably scorn when others advocate it for their own industries and professions — the credibility that the public seek? It is particularly important because newspapers have played and continue to play a fundamental role in our democratic life. They can continue to do so – in particular if they can carve out a distinctive role and a position of trust in and amongst the din of the internet. They can help to close the democratic deficit that risks opening up in that new online world of endless unmediated opinion and information.

Facing the Press or Facing the Music?…Lord Hunt is appointed Chairman of the Press Complaints Commission

Read more PCC Watch at MelonFarmers.co.uk

See article from pressgazette.co.uk

Former Conservative Cabinet Minister David Hunt (Lord Hunt of Wirral) has been named as the next chairman of the Press Complaints Commission. Current PCC chair Peta Buscombe had been expected to complete her three-year-term as head of the press watchdog and step down in the New Year. But it was announced today that Lord Hunt will take up his new role as of Monday. The PCC is currently under huge scrutiny with the whole system of press self regulation under review as a result of the phone-hacking scandal. The regulator is expected to be radically reformed, and may even be abolished and replaced with a new body, once the Leveson Inquiry has finished its deliberations. David Hunt said: I am delighted I shall be leading the crucially important process of wholesale regeneration and renewal of the system of independent self-regulation of the press. My job is to ensure we create in due course an effective, genuinely independent standards body, which enjoys the overwhelming respect and support of the media, our political leaders and the general public. Throughout my political life I have fought for freedom of expression; and a free press is the distinctive and indispensable hallmark of any truly free, civilised society. I have no desire to live in a country where the legitimate, lawful investigative activities of the press are fettered at the whim of politicians. That would not be freedom at all. Those who work for newspapers or their digital off-shoots are, however, rightly bound by the law of the land, just like everyone else. They should also abide by recognised standards of professionalism, consideration and common decency.

Complaints Against the PCC Upheld…Baroness Buscombe to quit Press Complaints Commission over mishandling of phone hacking scandal

Read more PCC Watch at MelonFarmers.co.uk

See article from thescotsman.scotsman.com

The phone-hacking scandal claimed another high-profile name when Baroness Buscombe announced she is to quit as chairman of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC). The Conservative peer will step down from her role following widespread criticism of the watchdog for mishandling the scandal. Lady Buscombe will relinquish her post once a replacement is found. Lady Buscombe’s tenure has been marred by criticism that she has failed to deal convincingly with the phone-hacking allegations at the News of the World, an impression that was backed up by a recent unconvincing performance when she was interviewed by Andrew Neil on the BBC’s Daily Politics Show.