Press watchdog chairman Sir Christopher Meyer has tackled the hot issue of self-regulation in a speech to the Society of Editors.
He questioned whether the term ‘self-regulation’ was correct for the type of regulation from the Press Complaints Commission, given its independent nature, and argued that the Commission was ‘the creature that broke free from its creators’.
Defending the current system, which has recently come under attack from several sides, he also highlighted the main reasons why the Commission was a proactive and developing organisation – pointing to:
He confirmed fear of a negative adjudication published in the paper was greater than the threat of a fine – a sanction which had been discussed in the past, and would be paid by the company and not the editor.
He told his audience of editors: “Try to hide it [an adjudication] away and you make the case for enemies of the PCC.
“I am more convinced than ever that the introduction of fines for newspapers in breach of the Code would be disastrous.
“Even if you could agree a tariff… regulation would descend into a quagmire of adversarial legal battles, in wihc the loser would be the complainant the main beneficiary the lawyer.”
He said it would signal the end of the PCC’s motto – “fast, free, fair”.
But he also pointed to new challenges for the industry and the Commission itself.
These include improving the visibility of the Commission, the need for editors to take particular care over the accuracy of headlines, and the importance of apologies and PCC adjudications appearing as prominently as possible.
He also called for every newspaper employment contract to contain the Editors’ Code of Practice.
“Most companies make it a requirement, but not all do,” he said. “Yet it is an initiative that has helped raise editorial standards.”
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