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  Regional press news - this story published 03 February 2010

Press freedom groups call for major PCC reforms

by holdthefrontpage staff

The Press Complaints Commission should change its name and come under the remit of the Freedom of Information Act.

These are just two of the recommendations being put to the press watchdog as part of independent governance review by the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom.

Last August the PCC announced it would be undertaking the first independent review of its own governance in its 18-year history and is currently accepting submissions.

Some of the CPBF's recommendations are:

  • The PCC should either cease referring to itself as a regulator or widen its remit and reconstitute itself to include specific regulatory functions, if doing so should be renamed the Press Standards Authority.
  • It should entertain third party complaints as a matter of course which it currently does not.
  • The commission should publish comprehensive data complaints received, on its website, in fortnightly bulletins and annual reviews.
  • The PCC should be regarded as a public body for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act.
  • The editorial code committee should consist primarily of highly experienced senior journalists while editors should be in the minority.

    • The CPBF concludes: "Based on our own and others' previous experiences of dealing with the PCC we do not expect for one moment any of our recommendations to be taken on board."

    Its submission, which can be read at cpbf.org.uk, was written by Brunel University journalism professor Julian Petley who is also a member of the board at Index on Censorship and the editorial board of the British Journalism Review.

    Elsewhere, the Media Standards Trust has submitted 28 recommendations to the press watchdog and conducted a survey with Ipsos Mori.

    Its recommendations also include a change of name, to the Press Standards Commission, and that no serving editors should be on the commission itself.

    More details about the MST's submission can be found on its website.




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