Press regulation
No action over Sky man's MH17 lapse
Monday 6 October The Sky News reporter Colin Brazier was guilty of a significant lapse of judgment when he started sifting through personal belongings in the wreckage of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, Ofcom said today. More than 200 people complained that the live report was offensive and the regulator ruled that it had breached its programme code. Ofcom also noted that editorial decisions were particularly challenging in the circumstances and noted that Sky and Brazier had issued apologies. It said it considered the case resolved and that it would take no further action. Brazier had been seen looking through a suitcase, but after a few moments he returned the items and said: "We shouldn't really be doing this." Ipso gets down to businessMonday 8 September The Independent Press Standards Organisation started work today with a pledge from chairman Sir Alan Moses that it would be rigorous, fair and transparent. That cut no ice with Kate and Gerry McCann, Milly Dowler's sister and others, who sent Sir Alan a welcoming letter describing the new regulator as a sham that had no credibility. "Ipso is part of the problem of the worst of UK journalism, not part of the solution," they wrote. Most newspapers and magazines have signed up to be regulated by Ipso, with the exception of the FT and the Guardian, which are setting up their own complaints procedures, and the Independent group, which has yet to show its hand
Where standards have been breached we will apply sanctions and seek redress. Where we see patterns of poor behaviour we will pursue change. Democracy depends on a free but fair press. Through independent regulation IPSO will make an important contribution to that vital objective ...and the response....
Government PR man Matt Tee to run Ipso
Thursday 31 July Matt Tee, a civil servant with a history of working in public body PR, is to be the first chief executive of the new press regulator Ipso. Tee, now the NHS Confederation's chief operating officer, was previously permanent secretary, government communication, which involved directing the Central Office of Information. He has also been head of news at the Department of Trade and director general of communications at the Health Department.Sir Alan Moses, the Ipso chairman, said: "Matt has a deep understanding of the complex and sensitive relationship between the press, the public and Government. As a highly experienced CEO and accomplished communicator, he brings a great deal of relevant experience." Tee said: "A free press is a cornerstone of our democracy. To be effective and credible, IPSO must be independent and free from the control of the press or the state. It will understand the press but be tough when there is wrongdoing." Ipso says that 90% of newspapers and magazines have chosen to put themselves under its regulatory control. The Guardian and Independent groups have yet to show their hands and the FT is setting up its own ombudsman. SubScribe See more on Press regulation here From Milly to Moses, give Ipso a chance Parliament, Hacked off and self-regulation of the Press Hillsborough families protest over Bill Newman
Friday 30 May, 2014 Families of victims of the Hillsborough disaster have urged the Ipso appointments panel to rethink its decision to include the former Sun managing editor William Newman on the new regulator's board.
Newman was the paper's ombudsman and the author of a letter to readers angered by a Sun splash in April 1989 that accused fans of hindering the rescue effort. He apologised if the story had caused upset, but stood by its content. Margaret Aspinall, chair of the Hillsborough Families Support Group, said: "Mr Newman had a key role in defending the outrageous coverage of the Sun of the Hillsborough disaster and in the abject failure of the newspaper to properly apologise when it was clear they had printed hurtful lies and not 'the truth'. That is why his appointment to the board of the new regulator is totally unacceptable to us and we believe will undermine public confidence in it." 
Joan Smith to take the helm at Hacked Off
Friday 30 May, 2014 The Independent columnist Joan Smith has been appointed executive director of Hacked Off, in succession to Brian Cathcart. She said: "As a journalist, I’m passionate about the need to bring ethics back into the heart of the British press; as a target of phone hacking, I know how much damage intrusive reporting has done to individuals and the reputation of the industry." 
"Few people anticipated the bloody-mindedness of the group of men who own and run our biggest newspaper groups. They have raised two fingers to the judge and Parliament and are creating Ipso...It's like a used-car salesman saying: 'Forget the old banger I sold you before, the one that fell apart with you at the wheel, and buy this handsome new banger off my forecourt.'"
Smoothie entrepreneur and pensions expert join former editors on Ipso boardWednesday 28 May, 2014
Three former editors have been named as members of the board of the new Press regulator Ipso. The industry will be represented by Charles Wilson, who edited the Times and went on to become the Mirror Group's managing director; Charles McGhee, former editor of the Glasgow Herald, Keith Perch, latterly of the Leicester Mercury, former Sun managing editor William Newman, and Kevin Hand, the former EMAP chief executive who has just stepped down as chairman of the Professional Publishers Association. They will be joined by the documentary maker Anne Lapping, the pensions expert Ros Altmann; Rick Hill, chairman of the Consumer Council in Northern Ireland; Sir Tom Phillips, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Dame Clare Tickell, who used to run Action for Children, and Richard Reed, one of the founders of Innocent smoothies. The board will now appoint a chief executive and a 12-strong complaints committee. Ipso is expected to start work in September. The rival regulator Impress, which is backed by JK Rowling, has meanwhile started to look for an appointments panel to recruit a board and has said that it will decide next month whether to seek recognition under the Royal Charter. |
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