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The road since Leveson has not been a happy one. The judge wanted transparency and clarity over the way the press was regulated in this country. Instead there has been obscurity and confusion. He tried to craft something which protected the press’s freedom as well as regulating its wilder fringes. But his report – initially cautiously welcomed – is now painted as a draconian gag on free speech. Parliament spoke: the press decided otherwise.
On Monday, the old Press Complaints Commission will be wound up and a new body, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso), will open its doors. In some ways Ipso is an improvement on the old PCC which, it is now widely acknowledged, was not really a regulator at all and which fell flat on its face when confronted with truly serious transgressions. Ipso has attracted some strong lay board members and a notably independent chair in the retired court of appeal judge Sir Alan Moses. It will have powers to investigate and levy fines after evidence of persistent wrongdoing in a way the old PCC didn’t. But the way Ipso came into being has not been satisfactory. The attempt to graft a medieval-style royal charter on to press regulation was a constitutional train crash. And the press – which kept control of the old PCC via a funding body and other mechanisms – has crafted something similar for Ipso, with industry tentacles reaching into the funding, control and constitutional arrangements of the new regulator. Even Sir Alan is rumoured to be unhappy about the independence of the body he now chairs and is said to be intent on rewriting the governance while also establishing an effective arbitration service.
It is unsurprising, then, that there is still a considerable degree of public scepticism that Ipso is yet the credible answer to the questions posed by the year-long Leveson inquiry. The victims of press intrusion, as well as many significant academics, journalists, politicians, lawyers and (to judge from our postbag) readers are suspending their endorsement while watching Sir Alan’s next moves. They will judge whether he can truly craft something that can command more general confidence. The Guardian, in common with the majority of what used to be called daily national broadsheet papers in the UK, is not signing up to Ipso at this stage; nor are several magazines or major new media players. This paper will wait to see whether Sir Alan succeeds in reforming some of the governance issues that still cause anxiety. In the meantime, we will reinforce our own system of complaints and mediation.
The Guardian led the way in creating a meaningful mechanism for correcting and clarifying errors. We appointed the first truly independent readers’ editor in the UK 17 years ago and since then have had a regular prominent space every day for corrections as well as a weekly column in which the readers’ editor – who is appointed, and can only be dismissed, by the Scott Trust – can comment on issues and concerns raised by the public. There has also been an external ombudsman to whom the readers’ editor can refer substantial grievances, or matters concerning the Guardian’s journalistic integrity. The distinguished television executive John Willis will continue in this role – enhanced by the creation of a temporary review panel, with a further two external public figures soon to be appointed by the Scott Trust. This body will meet regularly to review the work of the readers’ editor alongside specific issues to do with the latter’s processes and decisions. In addition we are happy to consider arbitration of complaints where the readers’ editor and the Guardian’s legal team consider it to be appropriate. We will publish more details of the new system shortly.
In the days after the Leveson report, the editors of virtually all national papers met and agreed on the great majority of its recommendations. We enthusiastically support the principle of independent self-regulation as well as the industry’s code of practice. We hope that Sir Alan and his board can improve Ipso so that it commands broader general confidence.
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