The Press Justice Project supports people affected by press abuse and campaigns for higher standards across journalism. On 13 October, it will be bringing that work into focus with an event looking at the ways women are treated by the media, as targets of discrimination in press coverage, and as journalists in the newsroom. Continue reading
Professor Arday is not the first to be viciously hounded by the rabid press. I doubt he will be the last.
The sense of public outrage about the late Professor Jason Arday’s treatment by the press is palpable. The government would do well to listen. As
Media lawyer and author Jonathan Coad recently complained to IPSO about a Telegraph article entitled
Since the Leveson Report was published in 2012, exposing a collapse in ethical standards across the press, most national newspapers have adopted a similar stance: objection to the very principle of accountability.
Britain deserves a better press, with standards that put the public first. Phone hacking, lies and the abuse of ordinary people. Disinformation on critical public issues, from climate change to immigration. Harassment and bullying of the bereaved and victims of crime.
While broadcasters and social media platforms are overseen by Ofcom, the rest of the media – newspapers and their websites – remain unregulated. Instead, most newspaper publishers are in IPSO, a complaints body controlled by the press itself, which has a dire record of failing to protect the public since it was established over ten years ago.
Ofcom has continued to tighten enforcement of the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA) in relation to online pornography, issuing two further penalties in February 2026 against operators of adult websites for failing to deploy legally required age-assurance measures.
Recently, I have been reminded of a quote: “You can become so single-minded in the defence of your own principles that you forget to follow them”. I first heard those words spoken by 

