• Introduction
• Chairman's perspective
• Public representatives
• Complainants
• Professional representatives
• Newspapers and magazines
• The Press Complaints Commission
• Simon Sapper - Assistant Secretary, Communication Workers' Union and PCC Public Commission member
• Charlotte Dewar - PCC Complaints Officer
• Constructive critics
• International perspective
• Historical perspective
• Putting it into perspective

The Press Complaints Commission

People sometimes assume that 'self-regulation' means that the newspaper and magazine industry regulates itself, with no outside input at all. In fact, this is not the case. The PCC - with its clear majority of public members - is the independent part of the self-regulatory system. In this section, we have asked Simon Sapper to give his view on the PCC's work and effectiveness based on his experience as a serving public Commission member. Also given here is a perspective from one of the PCC's Complaints Officers, whose work centres around liaising between complainants and publications. It is worth noting that no PCC staff member (who come from a range of backgrounds) has ever been employed as a journalist. This is important, as it ensures that we are able to operate independently of the newspaper and magazine industry in our day-to-day contact with it.