Greenslade on Withdrawal of Express Newspapers from PCC

Friday, 14 January 2011 17:02

Roy Greenslade, in his Guardian blog, reflected on what the withdrawal of Richard Desmond’s publishing group, Northern and Shell, from the Press Complaints Commission means for the public and to the future of the PCC’s system of media self-regulation. The group is behind such publications as the 'Daily Express' and 'Daily Star'.

Greenslade wrote:

“…the first to suffer will, of course, be members of the public who are upset by articles in titles such as the Daily Express and Daily Star.

“If they contact the PCC in future they may well be given assistance in how to compose a complaint letter to send direct to the offending paper. But they will be on their own after that.

“If Desmond's editors choose to ignore complaints altogether, nothing can be done for the complainant.

“It is therefore obvious that the exclusion of the N&S titles represents a significant breach in the industry's virtually unanimous acceptance of self-regulation.”

Greenslade also highlights open questions posed by the Media Standards Trust to the publishing group (as well as to the PCC and the Press Board of Finance) over the decision. Questions such as:

“Will you guarantee to offer the same levels of protection to members of the public – such as families who have suffered a suicide – as you did when covered by the editors' code of practice?

“If a member of the public feels harassed by a journalist claiming to work for Northern & Shell, what should they do?

“If you discover that a high profile public figure is pregnant before their 12-week scan, will you protect their privacy?

“How should a reader go about making a complaint about something that is written in one of your titles?

“Will your titles provide a clear internal complaints system?”

Open questions that are not without significant import given the litany of complaints the publishing group has attracted. Greenslade usefully provides a breakdown of legal payouts that Express newspapers have been forced to make in recent years.

Greenslade described the withdrawal of N&S from the regulatory system as a “damaging blow to the public status of the Press Complaints Commission” – a view strongly supported by others.

John Wittingdale, chairman of the Commons culture, media and sports select committee, said on Tuesday that the decision by N&S cast doubt over the newspaper industry's ability to regulate itself.

Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, commented that it could bring statutory regulation of newspapers and magazines a “step closer.” He told an audience at the London School of Economics on Wednesday that the decision by Desmond was “curious and regrettable.”

“I would think the last thing [Richard Desmond] would want is statutory regulation and by undermining the system of self-regulation he risks bringing that a step closer,” he said.

With the option of escaping oversight through non-payment of fees to PressBof, and the potential domino effect of more publications following suit, the question surely to be asked is whether a self-regulation system which operates on an “opt-in” basis is a feasible one?

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