A brief overview of the Levson Inquiry

1. Leveson Inquiry Overview

2. What was the Leveson Inquiry?
The Leveson Inquiry was a judicial public inquiry into the press’ relationship
public and the ethics of their reporting in light of the International Phone
Hacking Scandal.
Whilst examining the British press, the inquiry called for a new regulatory
body, replacing the Press Complaints Commission with the International
Press Standards Organisation, hoping to recognise the body’s regulation
through new state laws.
The inquiry was split into two parts: Part 1, which was the enquiry into the
morality, ethics and practices of the press’ coverage of the public; Part 2,
however, has been ‘kicked into the grass’ with the justification that it ‘cannot
commence until the current police investigations and any subsequent
criminal proceedings have been completed’. This is what has greatly annoyed
people regarding the Leveson Inquiry. The 5.3 million, government funded
cost has really amounted to a small slap on the wrists for the press and
nothing more.

3. Leveson Inquiry Part Breakdown
The 14 September 2011 press release stated Part 1 of the Leveson Inquiry
would be addressing:
"the culture, practices and ethics of the press, including contacts between
the press and politicians and the press and the police; it is to consider the
extent to which the current regulatory regime has failed and whether there
has been a failure to act upon any previous warnings about media
misconduct."
and Part 2:
"the extent of unlawful or improper conduct within News International,
other media organisations or other organisations. It will also consider the
extent to which any relevant police force investigated allegations relating to
News International, and whether the police received corrupt payments or
were otherwise complicit in misconduct."

4. Leveson Inquiry Module Stages
The first module of the Leveson inquiry addressed the press’ relationship with the
public. The hearings which took place from November 2011 to February 2012
brought up witnesses who had been personally victimised by the intrusion of the
press. Testimonys came from Sally Dowler, Kate and Gerry McCann, Christopher
Jeffries, Hugh Grant, Steve Coogan, J.K. Rowling and many more.
The second module addressed the relationship between the press and the police,
bringing up political and police figures as witnesses. This included Lord Prescott,
Brian Paddick and Simon Hughes.
The final module examined the relationship between the press and politicians,
seeing testemony from James Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch, Adian Barclay, etc.

5. Leveson Inquiry Reaction
On 19 October, YouGov published a poll of 2,846 adults which asked how respondents
thought newspapers should be regulated: 78 percent thought that there should be an
independent body, established by law, which dealt with complaints and decided what
sanctions there should be if journalists broke agreed codes of conduct; 10 percent
thought that newspapers should establish their own body to deal with complaints and
decide what sanctions there should be if journalists broke agreed codes of conduct; 4
percent disagreed with both propositions; 7 percent didn’t know.
David Cameron responded with, I am
not convinced at this stage that statute
is necessary to achieve Lord Justice
Leveson’s objectives. I believe that
there may be alternative options for
putting in place incentives, providing
reassurance to the public and ensuring
that the Leveson principles of regulation
are put in place. Those options should be
explored.

6. Leveson Inquiry Reaction