The Press Complaints Commission
Simon Sapper - Assistant Secretary, Communication Workers' Union and PCC Public Commission member
The starting point for my involvement with the PCC is that self-regulation of content is, for me, the only really viable model for a free press, albeit within legal parameters on discrimination, incitement and libel. That's not to say current laws and regulation on media ownership are satisfactory. I don't think they are - but that is a different debate to the one on how content should be regulated.
The Commission's staff work with fantastic professionalism and efficiency. So ignorance-based criticism of the Secretariat is particularly unwarranted. Too many people in glass houses too willing to throw stones, in my view.
The process of making decisions is of course crucial. Each Commissioner - the 10 public ones and seven from the industry - receive a weekly bundle of cases with commentary by the Secretariat. These form the basis for vigorous debate - first in correspondence and then around the table, face-to-face. Commissioners see every case. Debates can be intense. But that is right - these are not insignificant issues that are under consideration. The key issue is not simply what is ethically right or wrong, but whether or not the Code has been breached.
I believe that an outside observer witnessing these debates would not be able to say which Commissioners were public and which were from the industry.
Could things be better? Of course. We are implementing a wide-ranging Governance Review into how we work, and I think the Code Committee (an entirely separate body which agrees the Code we apply) should be more responsive to views from outside the industry. I'd also love to see a toughening up of the Code clauses on discrimination. It's an ongoing challenge to fi nd a way to make that possible without drifting into censorship.
The PCC operates completely independently of the newspaper industry when it administers the Editors' Code of Practice. All self-regulatory systems have some industry involvement, and this is largely of benefi t to complainants: editors have made a public commitment to the system, and accept its jurisdiction in advance.
The PCC relies on, and expects, the co-operation of newspapers and magazines to achieve its purpose. Editors come to the PCC for advice, and act voluntarily when asked to stop contacting those unwilling to speak to them. They also support the ongoing system of training for journalists run by the PCC.
But the industry must be in the minority in terms of the decision-making function of the Commission. Of the 17 members of the PCC, only seven are serving editors or editorial directors. The majority of 10 public members is the largest of any similar press council in Europe. The PCC Chairman always comes from a non-newspaper or magazine background.
‒ Press Complaints Commission