PCC chairman announces new press watchdog

Wednesday, 01 February 2012 15:44

The chairman of the PCC, Lord Hunt, in his oral testimony to the Leveson Inquiry yesterday revealed plans for a new press regulatory watchdog which, he argues, will be more ‘robust’ and have powers to investigate allegations of misconduct, impose fines and award compensation to victims of media malpractice.

From The Guardian:

“The new chairman of the Press Complaints Commission has unveiled a blueprint for a "totally new" newspaper watchdog which he hopes will eradicate "bad journalism" and practices that have brought "shame" on the industry.

“Lord Hunt told the Leveson inquiry on Tuesday that he was, however, flatly opposed to statutory regulation of newspapers, arguing that it would "open a Pandora's box" which would give the opportunity to unscrupulous politicians to try to curb the freedom of the press.

“The new regulatory body proposed by Hunt would have real powers to investigate allegations such as phone hacking, illegal computer hacking or general press intrusion by reporters or paparazzi.

“It would also have the power to impose fines and award compensation to victims of the press, he said, with newspapers signing binding contracts to adhere to its rulings for five years at a time.

“The new body would be far more robust than the PCC and be independent of influence by present editors, according to Hunt, with a three-pronged structure involving units providing a swift complaints resolution service, a standards arm and an arbitration operation which would assess damages.

"We do urgently need a totally new body with substantial increased powers to audit, enforce compliance with the code [of practice], to require access to documents, to summon witnesses when necessary and also to impose fines, all backed by commercial contract," Hunt told Lord Justice Leveson.

“He said he had widespread support within the industry for the new watchdog and that Richard Desmond's Northern & Shell group, which walked out of the PCC last year, had told him it would consider signing up "if the formula was right".

“Leveson challenged Hunt on the workings of the arbitration mechanism and questioned whether his proposed body would have the legal powers to compel the wealthy to "go down the arbitration route" when they could afford to use the courts with expensive libel or privacy claims.

The Guardian states that the former chairman of the BBC Trust, Lord Grade told the Leveson Inquiry that “He was in favour of fines that were a "visible, tangible, painful means of a sanction" against errant newspapers, but said this "stick" should be accompanied by a "carrot" such as reduced risk of damages for libel.”

The announcement of the reform or replacement of the PCC has been a long time coming. The PCC has in the past come under significant criticism, having being described as ‘farcical’ by the former Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Ken MacDonald QC. A 2010 parliamentary committee report on ‘Press Standards, Privacy and Libel’ stated that effective self regulation “constitutes a significant challenge and a continuous test for the PCC”, and that “in the evidence presented to our inquiry, the general effectiveness of the PCC has been repeatedly called into question.”

In a hearing at the Leveson Inquiry last week, Consultant Editor to ENGAGE, Inayat Bunglawala told the Inquiry that any reform of the PCC should give attention to “the speed with which the body will deal with complaints” and that “when retractions and apologies are made, they [should be] in some way commensurate to the prominence given to the original story and the damage done by the original story.” He also raised the issue of the composition of the PCC telling the Inquiry that the body ought to be composed of former editors and journalists and not those in current newspaper employment.

ENGAGE’s Submission to Review of PCC’s Editors’ Code of Practice can be read here.

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