Newspaper regulation

A brief history of newspaper regulation The newspaper industry was regulated by the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) between 1990 and 2014. It was a voluntary regulator with no legal powers and was heavily criticised for saying it found no evidence of phone hacking at the News of the World in 2007. The PCC had a code of practice that provided guidelines for newspapers in how to report inaccuracies, crime, news stories involving children and more. However, the PCC was effectively run by the newspaper editors themselves and papers merely had to print a small apology when the regulator ruled against them.

The Leveson Inquiry 2011-12 The Leveson Inquiry in 2011-12 was a judicial public enquiry ordered by the government into the culture and ethics of the British press. This followed the revelations of the phone hacking scandal and the closure of the News of the World.

Post-Leveson: IPSO and IMPRESS Following the Leveson report, a new press regulator was introduced: the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). IPSO is more powerful than the PCC and can order newspapers to print apologies or corrections on the front page or fine papers. However, it crucially doesn’t act on Leveson’s key recommendation that the regulator is backed by government legislation. Alongside IPSO, IMPRESS was also set up as an alternative regulator. This was fully compliant with Leveson – but no major newspapers have signed up with IMPRESS. News of the World was shut by Rupert Murdoch its owner – later replaced by the Sun on Sunday

Channel 4 News debate about regulation Hacked Off campaigner Hugh Grant and media lawyer David Price debate the outcome of the publication of the Leveson report into media ethics.

REGULATION of the Press- arguments in brief Arguments for regulation: Arguments against regulation (as it currently works): to protect standards of reporting prevent attacks on innocent individuals. Conflicting economic needs of the news organisation – which may see sensationalist & extreme stories as a way to attract readers Current debates around the issue of fake news, defining internet companies (e.g. Facebook, Google) as news organisations Findings of Leveson Inquiry about what the press actually did! Recommendations of the Leveson report show that there is/was a problem importance of resisting state control (news media has a Fourth Estate function) Specific arguments about IPSO – e.g. Funded by newspapers and chaired by newspaper editors means that they may be biased, dominated by richest newspapers e.g. Daily Mail the practical problems of national regulatory frameworks attempting to regulate news online which is a global industry – e.g. Mail online =global refer to work of Livingstone and Lunt – particularly the power relationship between citizen and institution Responses may refer to work of Curran and Seaton – particularly their analysis of media power and responsibility