In a free society, a vital ingredient is a strong press – strong enough to speak truth to power. But when the press, itself, is a source of power, who is strong enough to speak truth back to them? Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Tag: IMPRESS (Page 2 of 3)
Readers are said to be resistant to it. The newspaper industry certainly doesn’t want it. Mad really, given that news is all about change. If only times hadn’t changed. Continue reading
On the face of it, democracy is the ultimate self-regulatory system. Don’t like your government? Elect a new one. Don’t like the European Union? Vote to leave. The people have their say, and our institutions are forced to listen. But this does not mean that democracy is a free-for-all. Without rules, the odds would be stacked in favour of the most powerful players and the loudest voices. Freedom for the pike would be death for the minnows. Continue reading
“What fun it must be a theoretical regulator. The triumph of theory over practice needs does it not our admiration.” These are the words of Sir Alan Moses, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) Chairman, poking fun at rival press regulator, IMPRESS, when speaking at this year’s London Press Club Awards lunch. Continue reading
You are unlikely to read about it about in the mainstream press, but this week saw a major step forward for genuinely independent press regulation in the UK. The new press regulator IMPRESS (Independent Monitor for the Press) has announced that it has not only signed up a dozen publishers but that it has submitted an application for formal recognition. This will now be assessed by the Press Recognition Panel (PRP), the wholly independent body established by cross-party agreement. Continue reading
The Press Recognition Panel, the body set up after the Leveson Inquiry to give life to a new system of press regulation, has opened its doors for business. This is good news for the press and the public alike. If a press regulator is recognised by this body, it will be able to offer British journalists effective protection from the chilling effects of bullying litigation and also protect the public by requiring news publishers to adhere to a framework of accountability. Continue reading
It has been a long time coming, but the first of the big reforms recommended by the Leveson Inquiry is finally going to happen, and that is good news for all of us because it means greatly enhanced access to justice in some cases where our legal rights may have been breached. Continue reading
The big corporate papers are encouraging the idea that the result of the general election means the end of the Leveson process. Although this claim is hardly surprising given their wild-eyed desperation to avoid any form of meaningful accountability, it is wrong. Continue reading
As soon as I was appointed Chair of IMPRESS, people asked me whether we would be seeking recognition under the Royal Charter on Self-Regulation of the Press [pdf]. It would have been absurd for me to give an immediate answer. The IMPRESS Board was yet to be appointed, let alone to hold our first meeting. When we did meet for the first time, early this year, we agreed that we would hear what people had to say for and against the Charter before reaching a decision. Continue reading
IMPRESS, the Independent Monitor for the Press, has announced that it is preparing to seek recognition under the Royal Charter on Self-Regulation of the Press [pdf]. The Charter gives effect to the principles of independent and effective regulation defined by Lord Justice Leveson after his groundbreaking inquiry into press standards. Continue reading
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