Leveson: The road to perdition

For those following the machinations on regulating the UK media, the story has moved beyond what we could have once called a saga. Almost three months since Lord Justice Brian Leveson delivered his report into the culture, practices and ethics of the press, the Conservative Party (note, not the Coalition Government), led by Culture Secretary Maria Miller, announced in Parliament its intended reforms of the industry.

Leveson’s report, backed by both the Labour and the Liberal Democrats, as well as the campaign group Hacked Off, called for a statutory body, regulated by Ofcom, to oversee the running of the UK newspaper industry. For them, the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), the existing self-regulating body has only demonstrated that it does not have the capability to govern Britain’s fourth estate. Not only did several notable titles including the Daily Express and Daily Star opt-out, but it oversaw some examples of extreme impunity and criminality by some of Britain’s leading tabloids, most notably the phone-hacking of the murdered teenager Milly Dowler.

Maria Miller

The Conservatives however; felt that a regulatory body was a step too far. In the Commons debate that ensued after Leveson’s deliverance, David Cameron echoed many of the feelings within the press industry that a regulated press in the UK, despite the instances of gross misconduct, is a step in the wrong direction. Their announcement this week proposing a Royal Charter, that would back a regulator; thus not directly affected by government policy was viewed differently from both sides. National editors such of Lionel Barber of the Financial Times argued against this legislation believing that organisations  governed by Royal Charters, such as the BBC are affected by party politics, whilst the Labour Party says it does not go far enough. To all extensive purposes, the Tories proposal could be defined as Leveson-lite, it adopts most of what the report put forward, minus a body that is underpinned by Parliament.

Whilst 75% of the public may agree that the press needs to be shackled, there are two things that I feel completely contravene the current debate. Firstly; that Leveson could be brought on to the statute via the backdoor through the defamation bill. Rather than a separate bill and debate going through Parliament, the reality is that Leveson’s idea of a media arbitration tribunal, underpinned by the statute, could simply added onto the defamation law. Whilst many in the press have argued about the encroaching privacy laws from Europe over the past decade, this decision would really undermine what the whole argument has been about.

Secondly, and what I feel to be more important is what the whole purpose of the legislation is there to demonstrate. Only this week, the London Evening Standard and Independent newspaper announced they would be merging sport and business desks in an attempt to save money. The Independent also announced that it would be become a seven-day operation. To some extent, this is not surprising; moving back of house operations together makes sense in this climate. It is already done by the Telegraph, both The Sun and The Mirror have become seven-day operations in recent years. Whilst continuing to be editorially independent both in content and style, newspapers are adapting to the financial climates of the digital world. Yet the argument is thus; why is the Government looking to regulate an industry that is dying?

The Daily Sketch closed in 1971, when will the next follow?

The Independent has made £80m of losses over the past four years. The Times is reported to make a loss of £40m a year, whilst the Guardian and Observer were around £44 million in the red last year. By 2020, it is conceivable in the current market that the Independent, Express, Mirror, Guardian, Financial Times and even The Sun may no longer exist. The UK has such a flourishing and even despite the recent political hostilities, a wide-ranging press and newspaper industry. Yes, something needs to be addressed, but regulation of this kind, is simply going to kill it.