Regulate the press?
Sorry if this has already been posted but I was wondering what people's views are on regulating the press?
Found this article on the BBC.
A tougher form of self-regulation backed
by legislation should be introduced to
uphold press standards, the Leveson report
has recommended.
Lord Justice Leveson said the press had
"wreaked havoc in the lives of innocent
people" for many decades.
The report's recommendations have divided
the coalition government.
David Cameron said he had "serious
concerns" over statutory regulation but Nick
Clegg said he supported some form of legal
underpinning.
And Labour leader Ed Miliband urged the
government to accept the report in its
entirety.
Speaking in the Commons, Mr Cameron
said he broadly welcomed Lord Justice
Leveson's principles to change the current
system.
But he said: "We should be wary of any
legislation that has the potential to infringe
free speech and the free press.
"The danger is that this would create a
vehicle for politicians whether today or some
time in the future to impose regulation and
obligations on the press."
Deputy Leader Nick Clegg said changing the
law was the only way to ensure "the new
regulator isn't just independent for a few
months or years, but is independent for
good".
Mr Miliband described the report as
"measured, reasonable and proportionate"
and said Labour "unequivocally" endorsed
its conclusions.
BBC political correspondent Norman Smith
said reaching a cross-party consensus
would be formidably difficult because there
was little room for negotiation when
politicians were disagreeing over points of
principle.
The Hacked Off campaign, which represents
victims of phone hacking said Mr Cameron's
"failure" to accept the full recommendations
of the report was "unfortunate and
regrettable".
Founder Brian Cathcart said: "Despite their
years of abuses and outrageous conduct, it
seems that the prime minister still trusts the
editors and proprietors to behave
themselves. It seems that the prime minister
wants self-regulation all over again."
Madeleine McCann's mother Kate said she
hoped the report would "mark the start of a
new era" for the press, in which it treated
those in the news "with care and
consideration".
Mr Cameron set up the Leveson Inquiry in
July 2011 after it emerged journalists
working for the Sunday tabloid the News of
the World had hacked the mobile phone of
murdered Surrey schoolgirl Milly Dowler. The
paper was subsequently shut down by its
owners News International.
