UK press must face tougher penalties
Source: Agencies |
February 13, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Britain's government minister responsible for the media said yesterday the country's press must face tougher penalties for breaches of standards in the wake of the tabloid phone-hacking scandal.
Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt also said newspapers must change their system of self-regulation, but insisted the government should not have any role in enforcing standards. The current watchdog, the Press Complaints Commission, is funded by the industry and can demand a newspaper publishes an apology, but has no power to issue fines.
Some lawmakers have previously suggested journalists who breach ethics rules should be prevented from working.
Major changes
Britain's media ethics inquiry, which has heard evidence from celebrities including J.K. Rowling and Hugh Grant, crime victims, newspaper executives and reporters, is expected to recommend major changes to press regulation when it issues findings later this year.
"I think everyone recognizes we don't want the state regulating content," Hunt told BBC television.
But he said Britain needed "a tougher system and I would like it to be an industry-led system," but added that "if a newspaper is going to be punished for stepping out of line then it needs to be a credible punishment."
The country's broadcasters are regulated by a separate industry watchdog.
Hunt's comments follow new developments in the police probes into alleged wrongdoing by the tabloids.
Five employees at The Sun tabloid, Britain's biggest-selling newspaper, were arrested on Saturday in an inquiry into the alleged payment of bribes to police and other officials, prompting executives to issue a message to staff insisting owner Rupert Murdoch did not plan to close down the title.
In July, Murdoch shuttered the 168-year-old News of The World tabloid amid public outrage when the extent of its phone hacking of celebrities, public figures and crime victims was exposed.
Hunt told the BBC any new regulator for Britain's press must also oversee new forms of written journalism and reporting on the Internet.
Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt also said newspapers must change their system of self-regulation, but insisted the government should not have any role in enforcing standards. The current watchdog, the Press Complaints Commission, is funded by the industry and can demand a newspaper publishes an apology, but has no power to issue fines.
Some lawmakers have previously suggested journalists who breach ethics rules should be prevented from working.
Major changes
Britain's media ethics inquiry, which has heard evidence from celebrities including J.K. Rowling and Hugh Grant, crime victims, newspaper executives and reporters, is expected to recommend major changes to press regulation when it issues findings later this year.
"I think everyone recognizes we don't want the state regulating content," Hunt told BBC television.
But he said Britain needed "a tougher system and I would like it to be an industry-led system," but added that "if a newspaper is going to be punished for stepping out of line then it needs to be a credible punishment."
The country's broadcasters are regulated by a separate industry watchdog.
Hunt's comments follow new developments in the police probes into alleged wrongdoing by the tabloids.
Five employees at The Sun tabloid, Britain's biggest-selling newspaper, were arrested on Saturday in an inquiry into the alleged payment of bribes to police and other officials, prompting executives to issue a message to staff insisting owner Rupert Murdoch did not plan to close down the title.
In July, Murdoch shuttered the 168-year-old News of The World tabloid amid public outrage when the extent of its phone hacking of celebrities, public figures and crime victims was exposed.
Hunt told the BBC any new regulator for Britain's press must also oversee new forms of written journalism and reporting on the Internet.
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