UNSAVOURY COMPANY


Last week saw Lord Leveson produce his much anticipated report on press regulation.
I took much satisfaction in watching the Leveson hearings and must confess had a great deal of fun watching the dregs of the press and Murdoch sycophants dragged in front of a judge and be exposed for the thuggish hypocrites, perfidious liars, self serving morally bankrupt riff raff that they are; I didn't take to them much.
As I say all good fun, but all good parties have to come to an end and we are left with what to do with a criminal inclined popular press. Leveson’s report has tried to tread a clever line between self regulation and statutory involvement. However unsurprisingly he does call for statute to provide an underpinning of press regulation.[1] Whilst this would not, as some rather hysterical commentators imply, turn this country into North Korea or Zimbabwe overnight, it would set a precedent for political oversight of the press and thus the slippery slope argument cannot be ducked. I hate Murdoch, Dacre and company and everything they stand for, who with an ounce of sensibility does not? However even visceral hatred of this kind does not blind me to the dangers of inviting politicians into a process of regulating the press.
This is not the same as saying, as the nauseating Trevor Kavanagh, Political Editor of The Sun, seems to believe that it should simply be business as usual. The prurient journalism which newspapers have served up to a public that indulged in the hypocrisy of feeding on such prurience whilst condemning it in polite company at the same time has run[2] its course. The paper’s have told lies, corrupted police officers and other public officials, hacked into people’s phone messages, blagged medical records and bullied children. They defamed the dead, hacked into a murdered teenagers voice mail and sought to blame the victims of hideous crimes. Business as usual Trevor, I don’t think so.
Leveson provides solutions to attack these problems.
Firstly, as he makes clear, self regulation of the press by the press is dead in the water, complete independence is required of any complaints agency. Prurient journalism and the invasion of the privacy of individuals should be subject to exemplary fines, a few £1m fines should concentrate minds.
However public interest[3] as a defence needs to be greatly strengthened and this should include violations of data protection. It might require a few thorny court cases to establish clear precedents, but the onus should always be on the public interest, including the public right to know where malfeasance is involved.[4] Greater plurality of sources of the press needs to be addressed with the Murdoch Empire subject to further restrictions. More needs to be ironed out, but Leveson provides a useful template.
However I say again that politicians should be kept well clear of press regulation. The BBC is curiously held up as an example of how politics and regulation can safely mix, usually by people ignorant of the history of the BBC. Nor is Ofcom a satisfactory agency, being all too overawed by the Murdoch colossus.
I am aware that this position places me, not for the first time in my life, in unsavoury company. What can I say, but that one thing I have learned in my life is that some things are true, even when bad people say them.

Having visited this page I would be grateful for your feedback, either tick one of the boxes below or make a comment via the comments button.



[1] The Prim Minister who had months to prepare himself for such a recommendation now expresses surprise that it is included in the report; dis-ingenuousness writ in neon lights with a Red Arrows fly past.
[2] Owning to the fact that the public bear some responsibility for the press that we have is the dog that has not barked.
[3]As opposed to what is merely of interest to the public.
[4]Leveson’s gentle treatment of the police and politicians is, to say the least, curious. 

Popular posts from this blog

NESRINE MALIK AND THE UNSUNG VIRTUES OF HYPOCRISY

Image
As I write this a 27 year old woman, Mariam Ibrahim, has just had a baby in a Sudanese prison, ‘the condition of the mother and baby is not known as Ibrahim's lawyer and her husband, a US citizen, had been denied access to her. Omdurman women's prison has a basic clinic, where the child is thought to have been born. Ibrahim has been shackled since being imprisoned.’ [1]   Mariam also has an 18 month old child who is also being held in prison with her. The ‘crime’ for which she is imprisoned is apostasy, for which she has received the death sentence. She has also been sentenced to 100 lashes, for the additional crime of having sex with her Christian husband. Although she has been a lifelong Christian her father was a Muslim, Sudanese sharia law forbids women to marry outside the Muslim faith, men needless to say can do as they please in these matters. Mariam Ibrahim and her husband.  Nineteen countries punish their citizens for apostasy, and in 12 of those countries
Read more

INTERVIEW WITH TOM VAGUE

Image
Tom Vague At the top end of All Saints Road there is a refuge, an enclave in which a local Bohemian culture retains a foothold, this is the Book & kitchen , a café/bookshop with adjoining terrace. Here the bustle of the nearby market gives way to conversation, conversation in the presence of images of the recent, and not so recent, past. The past of an area that has contributed so much to the life and culture of the city. I was there to meet local historian Mr Tom Vague a man intimately familiar with so much of this history. What Tom doesn’t know about the recent history of the area probably is not worth knowing. With Tom’s energy and effort Colville Community Forum, supported by City Living Local Life, recently held a gathering at The Book and Kitchen to celebrate this rich history. February 16 6-9 Pm, with Film Screening and Readings Exhibition February 16-26 2016. Featuring 30 Classic Westway Photographs and Posters. This represents one of a number of initiatives of t
Read more

LONDON BELONGS TO ME PART ONE

Image
. I. I have lived in London now just over thirty years, having moved here on 4 th July 1983 . I don’t know how long you normally have to wait to claim squatter’s rights but thirty years seems a good enough period to me. The glory of London is its parks and open spaces, you are rarely ever far away from a London park, common or heath. I am within fifteen minutes walk of Kensington Gardens or Holland Park , much closer to several smaller areas with grass and flowers and benches on which to sit, all maintained by Kensington and Chelsea council who also still believe in the value of trees. Those who would see what they call ‘the state’ shrink rarely mention such items in their calculations. What does it cost to maintain a tree? Too much by far for the likes of those right wing think tanks whom and I fear the phrase is soon likely to break under the strain under which it is now being placed, know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Holland Park is one of t
Read more