LONDON: Prime Minister David Cameron demanded yesterday that newspaper bosses urgently come up with an effective system of self-regulation following a damning inquiry into the reporting practices of Britain’s scandal-hungry press.
The behaviour of Britain’s cut-throat tabloid media has come under intense scrutiny in recent years as journalists resorted to increasingly intrusive tactics to break salacious stories about people’s lives to shore up falling circulation figures.
Last week a judge who oversaw the year-long inquiry triggered by a phone-hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch’s British media empire called for a new legislation-backed watchdog to police the sometimes “outrageous” behaviour of the press. That infuriated press barons who have lobbied frantically against the recommendation, saying any involvement of the law in press regulation would amount to state control and an attack on Britain’s centuries-old traditions of free speech.
Cameron is himself against statutory regulation, but, keen to be seen as taking a tough stance on the excesses of Britain’s notoriously aggressive tabloids, said industry bosses had to act fast to get their house in order.
“They’ve got to do it in a way that absolutely meets the requirements of Lord Justice Leveson’s report,” Cameron said after a meeting with editors and industry representatives.
“That means million-pound fines, proper investigation of complaints, prominent apologies, and a tough independent regulatory system. And they know, because I told them, the clock is ticking for this to be sorted out.”
The public was enraged when it emerged that staff at Murdoch’s newspapers routinely hacked into people’s phones, including that of missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler, who was later found dead. Subsequent hearings also embarrassed Cameron by exposing his cosy ties to Murdoch executives, including former top lieutenant Rebekah Brooks with whose husband Cameron went horse riding as part of their weekend gatherings in an upscale English town.
In a revelation which reinforced his image as a man of privilege, it emerged Cameron enjoyed “kitchen suppers” with Brooks at their country houses and signed off text messages with a friendly “LOL”, which he thought stood for “lots of love”. Brooks is now facing criminal action over phone-hacking and other alleged illegal actions.
The inquiry gave Britain a rare glimpse into the tricks of the tabloid trade which included stalking children, bullying victims and rummaging through celebrities’ rubbish bins. Phone hacking at Murdoch’s News of the World subsequently led to its closure.
In his report last week, Lord Justice Brian Leveson said statutory backing for the news regulator was needed to end a journalistic culture that had at times “wreaked havoc with the lives of innocent people”.
Reuters
