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| Cameron's Leveson gambit | Cameron's Leveson gambit |
| (7 months later) | |
| The Leveson inquiry (Cameron gambles on MPs' vote over press regulation, 15 March) showed that substantial sections of the press acted as if they could ignore the law: further similar allegations keep appearing, as they have this week. The core response from the press to Leveson is that they now want to control both the content of any new regulations and the way their application is interpreted. That would be rather like a criminal writing the law and controlling the courts. | The Leveson inquiry (Cameron gambles on MPs' vote over press regulation, 15 March) showed that substantial sections of the press acted as if they could ignore the law: further similar allegations keep appearing, as they have this week. The core response from the press to Leveson is that they now want to control both the content of any new regulations and the way their application is interpreted. That would be rather like a criminal writing the law and controlling the courts. |
| The PM's historically close ties to the Murdoch ("the most humbling day of my life") empire are a matter of record. In these circumstances there is no way his judgment can be seen to be impartial. Christopher McDouall Cambridge | The PM's historically close ties to the Murdoch ("the most humbling day of my life") empire are a matter of record. In these circumstances there is no way his judgment can be seen to be impartial. Christopher McDouall Cambridge |
| • The Leveson inquiry shone a light on serious failures by parts of the press to uphold people's rights, including breaches of personal privacy and the systemic problem of inaccurate and prejudicial reporting – reporting that may not always affect a named individual but does affect a wider group of people. Leveson concluded that "there has been a significant tendency within the press which leads to the publication of prejudicial or pejorative references to race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or physical or mental illness or disability". | • The Leveson inquiry shone a light on serious failures by parts of the press to uphold people's rights, including breaches of personal privacy and the systemic problem of inaccurate and prejudicial reporting – reporting that may not always affect a named individual but does affect a wider group of people. Leveson concluded that "there has been a significant tendency within the press which leads to the publication of prejudicial or pejorative references to race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or physical or mental illness or disability". |
| Our organisations have all seen first-hand the harm caused to people's lives by this kind of reporting – harm that goes far beyond the mere causing of offence: spikes in calls to helplines from women who have been victims of violence and are re-traumatised when media stories are published that blame women for attacks on them; six in 10 people with mental health issues reporting that stigma and discrimination, often fuelled by repeated associations between mental health and violence, danger and crime, are just as damaging and distressing as the symptoms of their mental illness; inaccurate and prejudicial reporting on HIV leading to people being deterred from testing, being confused as to how HIV is transmitted or being frightened of disclosing their HIV status to others; nearly one in two disabled people reporting that other people's attitudes towards them have got worse over the past year, with inaccurate press coverage cited as the main cause. | Our organisations have all seen first-hand the harm caused to people's lives by this kind of reporting – harm that goes far beyond the mere causing of offence: spikes in calls to helplines from women who have been victims of violence and are re-traumatised when media stories are published that blame women for attacks on them; six in 10 people with mental health issues reporting that stigma and discrimination, often fuelled by repeated associations between mental health and violence, danger and crime, are just as damaging and distressing as the symptoms of their mental illness; inaccurate and prejudicial reporting on HIV leading to people being deterred from testing, being confused as to how HIV is transmitted or being frightened of disclosing their HIV status to others; nearly one in two disabled people reporting that other people's attitudes towards them have got worse over the past year, with inaccurate press coverage cited as the main cause. |
| Leveson firmly recommended that any new regulators should be able to hear complaints from relevant third parties, including representative organisations. As parliament prepares to debate the way forward, we call on politicians to ensure this important power is given to any new regulator, backed by a strong code of practice that supports editors and journalists to uphold the highest standards of accurate and responsible journalism. Holly Dustin End Violence Against Women Coalition, Paul Farmer Mind, Deborah Jack National Aids Trust, Tracey Lazard Inclusion London, Liz Sayce Disability Rights UK | Leveson firmly recommended that any new regulators should be able to hear complaints from relevant third parties, including representative organisations. As parliament prepares to debate the way forward, we call on politicians to ensure this important power is given to any new regulator, backed by a strong code of practice that supports editors and journalists to uphold the highest standards of accurate and responsible journalism. Holly Dustin End Violence Against Women Coalition, Paul Farmer Mind, Deborah Jack National Aids Trust, Tracey Lazard Inclusion London, Liz Sayce Disability Rights UK |
| • In Indignez-vous!, Stéphane Hessel quotes the 1944 resolution of the governing council of the French Resistance, seeking to guarantee "la liberté de la presse, son honneur et son indépendance à l'égard de l'Etat, des puissance d'argent et des influences étrangères". The final clauses of this sentence, which mention the power of money and foreign influence, were largely inspired by memories of the notorious venality of much of the French press in the 1930s, despite a generally good press law going back to 1881. | • In Indignez-vous!, Stéphane Hessel quotes the 1944 resolution of the governing council of the French Resistance, seeking to guarantee "la liberté de la presse, son honneur et son indépendance à l'égard de l'Etat, des puissance d'argent et des influences étrangères". The final clauses of this sentence, which mention the power of money and foreign influence, were largely inspired by memories of the notorious venality of much of the French press in the 1930s, despite a generally good press law going back to 1881. |
| So it's a bit rich for those who work for press barons owning UK papers who live in tax havens, or who are foreigners, to talk about defending press freedom. One of the reasons Murdoch has become so anti-European is that the law in France has stopped him as a non-European from owning a major interest in a single media. While the scandals over phone hacking are bad enough, they should not take attention away from other nefarious structural features of the press in Britain today. Christopher Todd Emeritus professor of French, University of Leeds | So it's a bit rich for those who work for press barons owning UK papers who live in tax havens, or who are foreigners, to talk about defending press freedom. One of the reasons Murdoch has become so anti-European is that the law in France has stopped him as a non-European from owning a major interest in a single media. While the scandals over phone hacking are bad enough, they should not take attention away from other nefarious structural features of the press in Britain today. Christopher Todd Emeritus professor of French, University of Leeds |
| • This is no gamble for Cameron. By walking away from his promised commitments to regulation he's pleased the newspaper proprietors, but if he loses the debate on Monday, it will not be his fault, and he will still be in favour. More of a win-win situation. Great politics. Lizzie Hill Guildford, Surrey | • This is no gamble for Cameron. By walking away from his promised commitments to regulation he's pleased the newspaper proprietors, but if he loses the debate on Monday, it will not be his fault, and he will still be in favour. More of a win-win situation. Great politics. Lizzie Hill Guildford, Surrey |
| • If "independent self regulation" is OK for the British press, then why isn't it OK for British trade unions? Sure, freedom of the press is important, but so is freedom of association. What's the difference? Stirling Smith Bolton | • If "independent self regulation" is OK for the British press, then why isn't it OK for British trade unions? Sure, freedom of the press is important, but so is freedom of association. What's the difference? Stirling Smith Bolton |
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