A clutch of regional newspaper editors are to give evidence to the Leveson inquiry on press standards next week.
Editors of seven regional titles drawn from all four countries in the UK are to take the stand as the inquiry’s attention shifts from the national tabloids to other parts of the media.
The sessions represent an opportunity for the regional press to differentiate its activities from those of its national counterparts.
One of the editors giving evidence, Nigel Pickover of the Ipswich Star, has previously urged politicians not to use what he called a “condemnatory catch-all” for newspapers in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.
Earlier today, the Liverpool Daily Post picked up the theme in an editorial saying the hacking scandal had provided “the perfect stick with which to beat” the profession.
“The guilty few have caused enormous, disproportionate damage to the reputation of the massive majority of honest newspaper journalists,” it said.
As well as Nigel, other editors giving evidence next week include Peter Charlton of the Yorkshire Post, Spencer Feeney of the South Wales Evening Post, Maria McGeoghan of the Manchester Evening News and John McLellan of the Scotsman.
Also taking the stand will be Noel Doran of the Irish News and Mike Gilson of the Belfast Telegraph.
In a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron last July, Nigel wrote: “When you describe newspapers, please, please do not use it as a condemnatory catch-all.
“Please differentiate between the work done by local newspapers, like mine, and the activities the nation is so repulsed by.”
He later urged Mr Cameron to retain the Press Complaints Commission as a watchdog for the regional press while putting in place a different body to oversee national newspapers.
However the Prime Minister is believed to favour a system of statutory regulation for the whole industry.
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Great, but does anyone really think this inquiry is listening any more?It’s already a done deal.
Statuatory regulation is on its way and we’ll soon have a muzzled press in the UK much to the relief of sleazy celebrities and hooky politicians everywhere.
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While they are all good papers, they are at the bigger end of the local journalism spectrum.
An editor or two from weeklies from smaller towns would have been able to show something a little different.
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I hope Leveson does recognise that the regional press is a very different animal ot the nats and it’s good to see these ed’s given a voice.
However, House Rules is right. Where are the weekly editors?
A big city daily is a different beast to the small town weekly.
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Who knows? Some of them might be weekly editors before the year is done.
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Wonder if the inquiry will ask why so much bilge is run on the national sports pages. A good deal of it (eg transfer moves, new managers, even line-ups) is pure fiction, written to satisfy the moronic football element who will believe anything they read. Why can’t sports hacks write to the same standards of accuracy as news reporters? They could learn a lot from regional press.
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