On 22 February 2024, it became law that the press must comply with the Information Commissionerâs Officeâs journalism code of practice or else face sanctions for its breach. This event has gone unnoticed, largely, but for those of us interested in securing access for justice against press malpractice it represents a major development.  For, in principle at least, victims now have a cost-effective means of securing that justice through independent press regulation, just as Lord Justice Leveson envisaged. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Tag: Paul Wragg (Page 1 of 4)
One day, IPSO the glove puppet will tell the truth about An Industry Talking B******s about its commitment to high editorial standards. But not today. Today, IPSO will say its decision to hold The Sun accountable for âa serious breach of the Editorâs Code of Practiceâ (Lord Faulkâs words) demonstrates that it is the tough regulator it has claimed to be since its inception in 2014; that it can force newspaper editors to publish prominent adverse adjudications âwhether they like it or not.â Today, IPSO will say, it has shown the Press Recognition Panel was wrong to claim it is nothing more than the tradeâs complaints handling service. Continue reading
Back in March, exercising rare concern for those exploited by the super-rich, the government issued an âurgent call for evidenceâ that promised, based upon âthird party and anecdotal evidenceâ [42], âquick and effectiveâ action against Strategic Litigation against Public Participation (âSLAPPsâ). Continue reading
If IPSO is a tough regulator then why is it so soft on intrusions into grief and shock? – Paul Wragg
IPSO should be applauded for its phenomenal success in convincing gullible politicians that the press is âproperly regulatedâ. IPSOâs chair, Lord Faulks, speaking in the House of Lords (he is a politician, after all) in December 2021 was happy enough to embellish further to say that not only are the press âproperly regulatedâ but also âaccountableâ. Continue reading
We need to do away with these libel laws, says Meirion Jones in The Guardian, because they only protect evildoers and they stop us, the press, from bringing them to justice. I can reveal, he continued, that The Sun could have brought Jimmy Savile to justice in 2008 but the threat of libel action meant that all the testimony they collected was wasted and so, since the chance of a scoop was gone, they did nothing with it⊠Continue reading
Freedom of speech is quite the enigma. Just ask Laura Murray. When Rachel Riley retweeted, with embellishments, Owen Jonesâs comment that if you donât want to be pelted with eggs, you shouldnât be a Nazi, moments after Corbyn had himself been pelted, his stakeholder manager lambasted Riley. Not unreasonably, Murray took Riley to be both condoning violence toward politicians and to be labelling Corbyn a Nazi. Continue reading
Terabytes of sensitive financial data have been stolen by cyber hackers and supplied, on a massive scale, to large numbers of journalists who appear to believe that there is a public interest in trawling through private information. Continue reading
On 30 August 2021 it was announced that the privacy claim brought by Ben and Deborah Stokes against the Sun had been settled, with the newspaper agreeing to apologise and pay substantial damages. This was a complete victory for the claimants nearly two years after an intrusive and deeply upsetting front page article about the claimants. Continue reading
Piers Morgan’s ignominious exit from Good Morning Britain presents an ideal moment to reflect upon the meaning and nature of free speech. Continue reading
In a newly published book, A Free and Regulated Press, I ask: why are newspapers not regulated on a compulsory basis, as broadcasters are? There are several pragmatic reasons, of course, but what, if any, are the principled reasons? Continue reading
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