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| Ipso agrees four-year funding deal to 'underline independence' | Ipso agrees four-year funding deal to 'underline independence' |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| The Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) has agreed a four-year funding deal it says will help deliver independence from the newspapers it regulates as part of changes to its rulebook. | The Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) has agreed a four-year funding deal it says will help deliver independence from the newspapers it regulates as part of changes to its rulebook. |
| Ipso’s chairman, Sir Alan Moses, said the budget agreement with the Regulatory Funding Company, which guarantees £2.6m a year and will increase in line with inflation, “underlines our independence, and guarantees our freedom from control or influence”. | Ipso’s chairman, Sir Alan Moses, said the budget agreement with the Regulatory Funding Company, which guarantees £2.6m a year and will increase in line with inflation, “underlines our independence, and guarantees our freedom from control or influence”. |
| Members of the RFC are drawn from papers who have signed up to Ipso and who pay for its operation following its creation in the wake of the phone hacking scandal. The chair of the RFC is Kevin Beatty, chief executive of Daily Mail owner DMG Media, and its board includes senior executives from the Times, Telegraph and Express owner Northern and Shell. Its control of Ipso funding has led campaigners to question the regulator’s independence. | Members of the RFC are drawn from papers who have signed up to Ipso and who pay for its operation following its creation in the wake of the phone hacking scandal. The chair of the RFC is Kevin Beatty, chief executive of Daily Mail owner DMG Media, and its board includes senior executives from the Times, Telegraph and Express owner Northern and Shell. Its control of Ipso funding has led campaigners to question the regulator’s independence. |
| Opponents such as campaign group hacked off say Ipso’s changes, which come 17 months after its foundation, do not go far enough and still are some way from complying with the royal charter which was produced in line with recommendations of the Leveson inquiry. | |
| The changes were agreed by what Ipso described as an “overwhelming majority” of its member publications. | The changes were agreed by what Ipso described as an “overwhelming majority” of its member publications. |
| In addition to the funding change, Ipso now has explicit authority to investigate cases even if no complaints have been made and the power to compel member newspapers in breach of the Editors’ Code to hand over quarterly statements of further complaints. | In addition to the funding change, Ipso now has explicit authority to investigate cases even if no complaints have been made and the power to compel member newspapers in breach of the Editors’ Code to hand over quarterly statements of further complaints. |
| Ipso has also taken responsibility for writing its own rules for paying its board members and members of its complaints committee, procedures for handling complaints and investigations, and for fining newspapers found to be in breach of its rules. | Ipso has also taken responsibility for writing its own rules for paying its board members and members of its complaints committee, procedures for handling complaints and investigations, and for fining newspapers found to be in breach of its rules. |
| The previous rules were drawn up by newspaper industry representatives, who still decide the Editors’ Code. Ipso has the power to fine its members up to 1% of turnover or £1m, but has not done so to date. | The previous rules were drawn up by newspaper industry representatives, who still decide the Editors’ Code. Ipso has the power to fine its members up to 1% of turnover or £1m, but has not done so to date. |
| Moses said: “We identified what we wanted to amend and have made fundamental and far-reaching improvements that will reinforce Ipso’s power to carry out its work free from interference by those we regulate or by parliament. | Moses said: “We identified what we wanted to amend and have made fundamental and far-reaching improvements that will reinforce Ipso’s power to carry out its work free from interference by those we regulate or by parliament. |
| “These reforms will offer more protection to the public and allow us to provide a more effective service.” | “These reforms will offer more protection to the public and allow us to provide a more effective service.” |
| However, Evan Harris, joint executive director of Hacked Off called the announcement a “damp squib”. He said the four-year financial settlement shifted the number of Leveson breaches judged by the Media Standards Trust from 20 to 19 and described the rest of the changes as “trivial”. | However, Evan Harris, joint executive director of Hacked Off called the announcement a “damp squib”. He said the four-year financial settlement shifted the number of Leveson breaches judged by the Media Standards Trust from 20 to 19 and described the rest of the changes as “trivial”. |
| “The vice-like grip of the large newspaper groups over Ipso appointments, over its constitution and over its rulebook continues,” he said. “The more that Ipso over-claim for these changes, the more it will seem that it is merely noise to disguise the fact that they remain wholly controlled by the large newspapers and are hopelessly ineffective at providing remedy for victims of press abuse. | “The vice-like grip of the large newspaper groups over Ipso appointments, over its constitution and over its rulebook continues,” he said. “The more that Ipso over-claim for these changes, the more it will seem that it is merely noise to disguise the fact that they remain wholly controlled by the large newspapers and are hopelessly ineffective at providing remedy for victims of press abuse. |
| “For an organisation which claims that transparency is its watchword and is supposed to serve the public, it is a matter of wonder why they did not consult the public over the changes and instead negotiated in secret with a secretive industry body.” | |
| Ipso was set up by the newspaper industry in response to attempts to introduce statutory regulation put in motion by the establishment of a royal charter in 2013 in the wake of the Leveson inquiry. The Guardian, Financial Times and Independent have not signed up to Ipso. | |
| A rival regulator backed by the legislation, Impress, is currently seeking recognition, but has failed to sign up any of the the UK’s major newspaper publishers. | A rival regulator backed by the legislation, Impress, is currently seeking recognition, but has failed to sign up any of the the UK’s major newspaper publishers. |
| Martin Moore, a senior research fellow at King’s College London who was previously director of the Media Standards Trust, said the funding arrangement satisfied one of Leveson’s proposals, but the other changes did not amount to making Ipso independent. | Martin Moore, a senior research fellow at King’s College London who was previously director of the Media Standards Trust, said the funding arrangement satisfied one of Leveson’s proposals, but the other changes did not amount to making Ipso independent. |
| “Yes, it’s an improvement,” he said. “They have made it slightly more independent, but not independent.” | “Yes, it’s an improvement,” he said. “They have made it slightly more independent, but not independent.” |
| Moore said the presence of senior figures from the newspaper industry both on the RFC and at other levels, such as the Sun’s Trevor Kavanagh who is on Ipso’s board, remained a barrier to its independence. | Moore said the presence of senior figures from the newspaper industry both on the RFC and at other levels, such as the Sun’s Trevor Kavanagh who is on Ipso’s board, remained a barrier to its independence. |
| He added: “There are various people from the industry at all levels now.” | He added: “There are various people from the industry at all levels now.” |