Wednesday 11 July 2012

Leveson Inquiry: misbehaving newspapers should be fined £1 million, says Lord Black


Newspapers and magazines would be fined up to £1 million for the most serious “breakdowns in ethical behaviour” under a new system of regulation suggested to the Leveson Inquiry.

Leveson Inquiry: Industry recognises 'weakness' within self-regulation
Lord Black was director of the PCC between 2000 and 2006 
Lord Black of Brentwood, chairman of the Press Standards Board of Finance, the co-ordinating body for newspaper and magazine publishers’ trade associations, said “serious” financial penalties should be legally enforceable by a new watchdog.
But he urged the Inquiry chairman, Lord Justice Leveson, to resist any
form of statutory regulation, saying any body policing the media must be independent of Parliament.
Lord Black, who is Executive Director of Telegraph Media Group, publisher of The Daily Telegraph, said the system he was suggesting was “future proof” because it could be applied to print and digital news organisations alike.
He is one of a number of senior figures within the media invited by Lord Justice Leveson to submit ideas for a more robust replacement for the current watchdog body, the Press Complaints Commission.
Lord Black said the PCC had “lost the confidence of the public” because of its “inadequate” response to the phone-hacking scandal.
The proposal involves a complaints committee which would deal with complaints against the media, and a separate investigations and compliance panel with the power to call witnesses and demand documents as it looked into breaches of ethical standards.
The two arms of a new regulator would be overseen by an independent trust board, with members of the public making up the majority of its members, Lord Black said.
Publishers would sign up to a five-year rolling contract with the regulator, paying annual fees, and would face legally-enforceable penalties enshrined in the contract for any transgressions.
“This gives the new regulator an enforceable legal basis on which to work without the need for any form of statutory intervention,” said Lord Black.
Financial penalties would be decided by the trust board, which would have the power to levy fines of up to £1m for “systemic breakdowns in ethical behaviour”, he suggested.
He said any publisher who left the voluntary regulatory system would be liable for future fees covered in the contract.
They could also face other sanctions, he added, such as the withdrawal of press cards from their journalists, the withdrawal of access to agency copy and the loss of a proposed “kite mark”, which would make it harder to attract advertising.

Thursday 5 July 2012

Phone hacking police arrest man on conspiracy to pervert justice



Detectives investigating phone hacking have arrested a 26-year-old man on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, Scotland Yard said.

A Scotland Yard detective has been arrested and suspended over alleged leaks to journalists.
The man is the 24th person arrested as part of Operation Weeting.
The man was arrested at a residential address in Surrey earlier today and will be questioned at a London police station.
The arrest was made as part of the Operation Weeting investigation into hacking of voicemail boxes.
The man is the 24th person arrested as part of Operation Weeting. Six people - including former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and her racehorse trainer husband Charlie - have been charged in connection with the inquiry.
Mrs Brooks faces three charges of conspiring to pervert the course of justice, while her husband is charged with one count of the same offence.
The couple are due to enter pleas when they appear at Southwark Crown Court in London on September 26.
Fourteen others remain on bail pending further inquiries while four were released with no further action.
Three people arrested yesterday as part of Operation Elveden, the Metropolitan Police investigation into suspected corrupt payments to public officials, were later released on bail.
Former Mirror journalist Greig Box-Turnbull, 37, who worked for Trinity Mirror until taking voluntary redundancy in March, a 46-year-old prison worker and a 50-year-old woman were arrested yesterday morning on suspicion of corruption, conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to cause misconduct in a public office.
The 46-year-old man was bailed to return to a London police station today.
Box-Turnbull and the 50-year-old woman are due to answer bail at separate London police stations in late October.
Box-Turnbull is working for Westminster Council but was on secondment to Richmond Council.
A Westminster Council spokesman said yesterday: "We have yet to speak to the employee. With the possibility of further legal action it would clearly be inappropriate to comment further."
Trinity Mirror has not been contacted by Scotland Yard about the arrest, and it is unclear whether any allegations are linked to Box-Turnbull's work for the Daily Mirror, a spokesman said.
So far 37 people have been arrested as part of Operation Elveden.