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Report of the Acting Chairman
I have had the privilege to serve on the
Press Complaints Commission for the twelve years since its establishment.
During the most recent fifteen months I have been its Acting Chairman,
a role I will relinquish at the end of March. The announcement recently
of an inquiry by the Select Committee for Culture, Media and Sport
into the issue of privacy and media intrusion has prompted me to
look back over that period, as it was exactly a decade ago –
in 1993 – that the last such inquiry took place. I am mindful
that back then the Commission was still in its infancy – and,
against the background of unprecedented press, Parliamentary and
public interest, was undergoing a difficult start in life. But there
were also issues of real concern. The procedure for appointing members
of the PCC was not as transparent or as independent as it should
have been. The Code was, in many ways, too woolly. Our service to
the public could, at times, be too slow. And our handling of those
many crises that a free press throws – quite rightly –
in our path from time to time was weak. A good deal has changed
since then, and those early difficulties have been tackled with
vigour. This is not the place to recount them all – but suffice
to say that on three very important counts I believe we now have
a first class
story to tell.
Against that background, and although serious challenges still lie ahead, it is perhaps unsurprising to me and to my colleagues on the Commission that the PCC has become something of a model for other countries – many in the Commonwealth and Eastern Europe who have not all been blessed with our history of press and other freedoms – seeking to establish media regulation in their own countries. That more and more of them are turning to self regulation is testimony not just to the authority of the PCC, but to the inherent benefits self regulation brings wherever it is established – above all to the customer. This has been another important year. We have continued to improve our service to complainants, and to ensure our procedures are open and transparent. Key adjudications have strengthened the protection of the vulnerable, particularly children. We have sought – as we always have done – to work in partnership with government, at home and at EU level, at sorting out difficult issues such as payments to witnesses and financial journalism. And further crucial judgements in the Court of Appeal – particularly on the hugely important appeal by The Mirror in the case of Naomi Campbell – have continued to buttress the position of self regulation by newspapers and magazines, and the work of the PCC. I said last year that further challenges lay ahead – and they are arriving in abundance. They will continue to do so, and I wish Christopher Meyer – who takes over from me next month – much good fortune in dealing with them. In particular, issues concerning the Communications Bill and OFCOM pose great threats to self regulation and we will have to remain on acute guard in dealing with them. My fifteen months as Acting Chairman have been enormously challenging. I am indebted to my tremendous colleagues on the Commission, to my estimable staff at Salisbury Square, and to the newspaper industry for the chance to have undertaken this role. In particular, I would like to thank Guy Black for his unfailing and cogent support throughout a busy and challenging term of office. I shall continue to work with them all with great pride.
Professor Emeritus of Social Administration at the London School
of Economics, has been a member of the Commission since 1991. He
has been Acting Chairman since January 2002 |
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