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PCC's remit extended to include audio-visual material on newspaper websites

The Press Complaints Commission’s remit has been extended to include editorial audio-visual material on newspaper and magazine websites.

The move follows an industry-wide consultation and recognises that newspaper websites now routinely carry material not available in print form, said the Press Standards Board of Finance.

Announcing the change, PressBoF – a committee of industry executives responsible for setting the remit of and funding the arrangements for press self-regulation in the UK – said the PCC’s remit now includes website content which the editor of its accompanying newspaper was responsible for and “could reasonably have been expected both to exercise editorial control over it and apply the terms of the Code”.

Content pre-edited to conform to the online or offline standards of another media regulatory body will not be included.

Tim Bowdler, chairman of PressBoF, said: “It is extremely important that self regulation should evolve in a carefully considered manner to take account of the developing ways in which our publications, in print and online, communicate with readers.”

PCC chairman Sir Christopher Meyer added: “The range and quality of digital editorial material offered by newspapers and magazines have expanded at a dizzying pace over the last couple of years. These developments will only accelerate.

“What the industry has done in announcing this extension of the PCC’s remit is to underline its confidence in the system of common-sense regulation that we operate, and to demonstrate to the public that editorial information in the digital age – regardless of the format in which it is delivered – will be subject to high professional standards overseen by the Commission.”

The PCC has published a guidance note on the changes which can be found here.