Media

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Press Questions
1. Who are IPSO? What are their main functions?
IPSO is the independent regulator for the newspaper and magazine industry in the UK. We
uphold the highest standards of journalism by monitoring and maintaining the standards set out
in the Editors' Code of Practice, and provide support and redress for individuals seeking to
complain about breaches of the Code. IPSO is committed to working with the newspaper and
magazine industry to maintain and enhance the freedom and authority of the press through
effective, independent regulation.
2. Who were the P.C.C? What were their main functions?
The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was a voluntary regulatory body for British printed
newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC
closed on Monday 8 September 2014, and was replaced by the Independent Press Standards
Organisation (IPSO), chaired by Sir Alan Moses.
3. What are the main similarities and differences between the IPSO and P.C.C.?
The IPSO replaced the PCC in September 2014. Lord Hunt introduced a voluntary, paid-for,
'kitemarking' system for blogs. The kitemark would indicate that the blogger has agreed to strive
for accuracy, and to be regulated. Bloggers would lose their kitemark if complaints against them
were repeatedly upheld. He plans to start the roll-out by targeting bloggers that cover current
affairs. The PCC was an independently run organisation and due to the phone hacking scandal
people were complaining that they were not doing enough to regulate the press and therefore
after the Leveson enquiry, the IPSO was established which was backed up by statutory
legislation and therefore has more power.
4. What was the Leveson Inquiry? Who were the main institutions/people involved?
The Leveson Inquiry is a judicial public inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British
press following the News International phone hacking scandal, chaired by Lord Justice Leveson,
who was appointed in July 2011. A series of public hearings were held throughout 2011 and
2012. The Inquiry published the Leveson Report in November 2012, which reviewed the general
culture and ethics of the British media, and made recommendations for a new, independent,
body to replace the existing Press Complaints Commission, which would have to be recognised
by the state through new laws. Prime Minister David Cameron, under whose direction the
inquiry had been established, said that he welcomed many of the findings, but declined to enact
the requisite legislation. Part 2 of the inquiry has been delayed until after criminal prosecutions
regarding events at the News of the World. The report is the outcome of the Inquiry itself, which
took statements from and questioned witnesses for several months. Amongst those who

2. CHLOE JOE DAISY AND CAM
appeared were victims of phone hacking, including both celebrities like Hugh Grant and ordinary
people like the parents of murdered girl Milly Dowler, politicians, newspaper editors and
proprietors and many more. The Inquiry itself came out of the phone hacking scandal which led
to the closure of the News Of The World, and was set up by Prime Minister David Cameron, to
look at the whole culture of the relationships between newspapers, politicians and police and to
get to the bottom of the wrongdoing that had gone on. As Leveson reported, it is the seventh
such Inquiry since the end of World War II, as freedom of the press v public anxiety about the
behaviour of the press has tended to be an all too frequent opposition.
5. What key issues can you identify with the change from P.C.C to IPSO?
A lot of criticism has arisen from the change to IPSO due to the promise of an independent
regulatory body, a promise that few people believe. Most members of the public believe that the
IPSO are simply the P.C.C renamed as there was no official statutory legislation introduced, as
was the promise of the government.
6. What were the main issues raised by the Leveson inquiry?
The Leveson inquiry raised a number of issues with a lack of press regulation within the media.
Upon investigating, newspapers such as News of The World were caught and shut down due to
evidence of phone hacking and illegal information seeking being discovered and turned against
them. Another issue was that the PCC were not having any influence on the press and needed
to create a statutory legislation that allowed them to take legal action.
7. Find 3 historical examples of press regulation (need to look at P.C.C website)
Royal Commissions on the Press: 1947-1977
The First Royal Commission on the Press was set up in 1947 with "the object of furthering the
free expression of opinion through the press and the greatest practicable accuracy in the
presentation of the news". It was appointed following pressure from the National Union of
Journalists (NUJ) and concentrated on allegations of inaccuracy, political bias and abuses of
media ownership.
The Commission reported two years later in 1949. The report found "a progressive decline in
the calibre of editors and in the quality of British journalism". The Commission recommended
the creation of a General Council of the press with, as 20 per cent of its membership, "fair-
minded, good citizens” from outside the industry. The General Council was, however, not set up
until 1953, when it was proposed in a Private Member's Bill against the background of a threat
of political action to impose statutory regulation. The General Council was funded by newspaper
owners.
The Second Royal Commission on the Press was appointed in 1962 in response to a perceived
failure to implement the recommendations of the First Royal Commission. It criticised the
General Council "for not including lay members, and proposed statutory regulation unless its
performance improved".
The report stated, "If … the press is not willing to invest the Council with the necessary authority
and to contribute the necessary finance, the case for a statutory body with definite powers and

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the right to levy the industry is a clear one.The General Council became the Press Council and
the recommendations from the First Royal Commission were implemented, including the
introduction of a 20 per cent lay member quota and a lay Chairman.
The Younger Report on Privacy in 1972 criticised the Press Council for the lack of lay
representation on its board. At the time of the report, lay representation comprised one sixth of
the Press Council's total board membership. It also stated that "in future a critical adjudication
by the Council should be given similar prominence to that given to the original article, and that
the Council should codify its adjudications on privacy".
A Third Royal Commission on the Press was appointed in 1974 to "inquire into the factors
affecting the maintenance of the independence, diversity and editorial standards of newspapers
and periodicals and the public freedom of choice of newspapers and periodicals, nationally,
regionally and locally. Reporting in 1977, the Commission recommended a written code of
practice for the first time. This was rejected by the Press Council.
Calcutt Reports:1990 and 1993
In 1989, following pressure from Parliament and "the era of tabloid expose" the Government
commissioned Sir David Calcutt QC to chair a committee to looks at press intrusion.
The Committee's key objective was "to consider what measures (whether legislative or
otherwise) are needed to give further protection to individual privacy from the activities of the
press and improve recourse against the press for the individual citizen".
This resulted in The Report of the Committee on Privacy and Related Matters, published in June
1990. Its key recommendation was to replace the Press Council with a new Press Complaints
Commission (PCC) governed by a new Code of Practice. The PCC's remit was to adjudicate on
complaints alleging breaches of the Code of Practice. The Code was to be drawn up by a
committee of editors convened by PressBof.
The PCC was accordingly set up in 1991. The report from the Committee on Privacy and
Related Matters stated that the PCC should be given 18 months "to demonstrate that non-
statutory self-regulation could be made to work effectively" and that if this did not happen then a
statutory tribunal should be established. Discussing the recommendations in a television
interview for Channel 4, David Mellor MP, the Minister for the Arts, said, "I do believe the
press—the popular press—is drinking in the last chance saloon."
Sir David Calcutt reported back its progress in his Review of Press Self-Regulation, published
on 14 January 1993. He stated that:
"The Press Complaints Commission is not, in my view, an effective regulator of the press. It has
not been set up in a way, and is not operating a code of practice, which enables it to command
not only press but also public confidence…it is, in essence, a body set up by the industry,
financed by the industry, dominated by the industry, and operating a code of practice devised by
the industry and which is over-favourable to the industry".
He recommended that a statutory Press Complaints Tribunal be set up. The Government did
not formally respond until 1995. In its response it said it would not introduce statutory controls.
House of Commons Select Committees
NATIONAL HERITAGE SELECT COMMITTEE: 1993-1995

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The Fourth Report of the National Heritage Select Committee on Privacy and Media Intrusion
was published on 24 March 1993. It said:
"A balance is needed between the right of free speech and the right to privacy. The Committee's
view is that at present that necessary balance does not exist, and in this Report it recommends
action to achieve it. The Committee does not believe that this balance can or should be
achieved by legislation which imprisons the press in a cage of legal restraint, and for that reason
rejects those proposals in the recent report by Sir David Calcutt which could create such a cage.
The Committee would be deeply reluctant to see the creation of any system of legal restraints
aimed solely and specifically at the press or the broadcast media. It believes that self-restraint
or, as the Committee prefers to call it, voluntary restraint, is by far the better way".
The Committee recommended the appointment of a new statutory press ombudsman.
INQUIRY: CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT SELECT COMMITTEE: PRIVACY AND MEDIA
INTRUSION: 2002-2003
This inquiry examined privacy and intrusion by all media, including broadcast and print. It was
undertaken in the context of the reform of broadcasting regulation and defining of
responsibilities for Ofcom, the communications regulator.
The Committee's report was published on 16 June 2003. Its recommendations included
updating the Code in light of technological developments such as the interception of phone
calls, and the establishment of a pre-publication team.
The report stated that:
"… the measures we recommend are aimed at enhancing: the independence of the PCC and
aspects of procedure, practice and openness; the Code of Conduct; the efficacy of available
sanctions; and clarity over the protection that individuals can expect from unwarranted intrusion
by anyone—not the media alone—into their private lives."
8. Find 3 contemporary (last 5 years) of press regulation (articles on this page and
additional online research)
One example of press regulation in the last 5 years was when The Sun
printed a story in November 2015 where they claimed one in five British
Muslims supported people who have gone to Syria to fight for jihadi
groups such as Islamic State. The Sun’s coverage presented a poll
showing that one in five British Muslims had sympathy for those who left
to join Isis and for Isis itself when in reality neither the question, nor the
answers referring to 'sympathy', made references to Isis. The sun did
not except that the meaning of the question they asked was ambiguous
until this year when they released a statement acknowledging that its
claims were significantly misleading.
Another example of press regulation in recent years was Katie Hopkins
article about migrants in the Sun. She referred to migrants as ‘cockroaches and titled her article
as ‘Rescue boats? I’d use gun ships to stop migrants. This column sparked uproar in the media
because it was seen to be discriminatory towards migrants. However despite of the many

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complaints The Sun received for this article it wasn’t
removed because an Ipso spokesperson confirmed that
the regulator does not have the power to pursue
complaints about discrimination against groups of
people if no individual is specified.
Another example of press regulation in the past five
years is when The Times published an unfactual article
on Fifa in 2015. The article claimed that ‘Fifa isn’t the
only fiefdom to cast its shadow.’ It was also found guilty
by Ipso’s complaints committee of offering an insufficient
remedy for its error because it did not address the
“serious unsubstantiated claim.” In his piece, Times
columnist Matt Ridley wrote about certain organisations
that he claimed were “personal fiefdoms” whose leaders
“believe they are above the law” and are subject to
“lethargy or corruption, followed by defiance when
challenged”. The Times posted a revised article
because of the fact they breached Clause 1 (accuracy)
and Clause 2 (opportunity for reply) in an article
headlined “Fifa isn’t the only fiefdom to cast its shadow”.
9. Based on your reading and research so far, do you think press regulation works and
why/why not?
I personally do not think that press regulation works and my reasoning for this is the fact that
newspapers such as the Sun discriminate and abuse individuals and have a racist manner to
how they write and publish news which is false and untrue. Also with the PCC, they did not work
in regulating the newspapers as big news companies would basically run the stories and this
meant that there wasn’t actually any regulation which was taken place as they was basically
being run so the whole regulation system was corrupt. Also the PCC did not do anything about
the stories that was discriminatory and the PCC did just did nothing to regulate the press.
Nobody was really keeping an eye out as to what the press was doing and they was hacking
into dead people's phones and there was famous peoples phones that was being hacked into
and still the PCC did nothing to stop this so this tells us that it did not work.