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In praise of … Michael Grade In praise of … Michael Grade
(2 days later)
It's more than 60 years since he set out as a cub reporter on the Daily Mirror, and Michael Grade's career as a media baron has had its moments, not all of them good. Now his name is in the frame as the man who might manage to find common ground between the pressure group Hacked Off and the newspaper industry in the standoff over a replacement for the Press Complaints Commission. It's more than a month since the government paused its plans for a new regulator backed by a royal charter after sustained industry criticism. Hacked Off insists there's nothing to negotiate on the deal it reached with the three main parties back in March, but both government and industry are prepared to make concessions, even though there have been no formal negotiations. Lord Grade, a past chief executive of Channel 4 who took over as chairman of the BBC after the Hutton inquiry and left that job to run ITV, has the credentials to end the dangerous drift. It's more than 50 years since he set out as a cub reporter on the Daily Mirror, and Michael Grade's career as a media baron has had its moments, not all of them good. Now his name is in the frame as the man who might manage to find common ground between the pressure group Hacked Off and the newspaper industry in the standoff over a replacement for the Press Complaints Commission. It's more than a month since the government paused its plans for a new regulator backed by a royal charter after sustained industry criticism. Hacked Off insists there's nothing to negotiate on the deal it reached with the three main parties back in March, but both government and industry are prepared to make concessions, even though there have been no formal negotiations. Lord Grade, a past chief executive of Channel 4 who took over as chairman of the BBC after the Hutton inquiry and left that job to run ITV, has the credentials to end the dangerous drift.
• This article was amended on 20 June 2013. An earlier version of the article said it's more than 60 years since Michael Grade set out as a cub reporter on the Daily Mirror. This has been corrected to say more than 50 years.