The Press Recognition Panel, the state body set up to ‘oversee regulation of the press’ after the Leveson Inquiry and endorse regulators (of which there is only one), is using Jason Arday’s death to push for the state to regulate the press more tightly. In come the campaigns…
The PRP is a state body established under Royal Charter, contrary to the historic principle that the press is not licensed. It would be massively empowered under a Leveson 2 media clampdown but has so far only approved Fleet Street-hating Impress as a state-backed regulator because most of the press has signed up to their own one, Ipso. Not enough for the liberty-haters…
In a statement on the Arday affair:
“Government should now join up the media accountability landscape and create meaningful incentives for publishers to participate in independently assessed regulation. That does not mean giving ministers any role in deciding what the press can publish or how complaints are handled. Regulation would remain independent of Government and the press industry, as the Royal Charter requires.
The proposed trusted-news prominence regime offers an immediate opportunity. Access to prominence and other public, commercial or platform-based benefits should be linked to participation in the Recognition System through an Approved Regulator, with the same principle applied across legislation affecting news publishers.”
‘Incentives’ is choice language. The stick and stick approach…
Amnesty, the ultimate activist charity, has also backed state regulation. As the dullard left loves to say: When someone tells who they are – believe them…
Jolyon’s Good Law Project is calling for an inquiry and stringent action, while the Greens and Zack Polanski are claiming billionaires shouldn’t be allowed to own media companies. A sorry state of affairs…
