University 18 Yrs + | British Politics & the Media

British Politics and the Media – After the Leveson Inquiry

David Cameron said that much of Leveson should be accepted but was concerned about a new regulatory body enshrined in law.

However, he was unable to agree a position with his Lib Dem Coalition partners and with Ed Milliband while the victims group Hacked Off called for implementation in full.

Many of the newspapers, especially the tabloids, ran strong stories against any statutory regulation and set up an Independent Press Standards Organisation to replace the Press Complaints Commission.

The political parties eventually agreed on statutory regulation and the Government used the mechanism of a Royal Charter in October 2013 to set up a system of regulation run by a new Regulator chosen by a Recognition Panel and so avoided having to put legislation through Parliament which would have taken some time.

The newspapers setting up IPSO have said that they will not join the Royal Charter system and have questioned whether the new system if in contravention of the European Charter of Human Rights. However, the failure to do so may make them liable to punitive damages in the courts if they printed untrue stories about people. The Guardian, The Independent and the Financial Times have not accepted either view.

Since 2013, this issue has gone relatively quiet, however it has been reported that several celebrities and people in the public eye have received compensation.