MR SHAPPS AND THE BBC: THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS 1


What makes defending freedom of the press in this country so difficult is the fact that so much of it is so crap. The press is crap primarily becuase of those that own it. Would you really put Rupert Murdoch, Paul Dacre or Richard Desmond in charge of anything as significant as the Brighton and Hove Advertiser if you had any say in the matter? Still be it ever so crap it needs to be kept well clear of even the smell of political interference.
Firstly I will say that the proposed involvement of Parliament in establishing the legal basis for press regulation is not that draconian and it is certainly not the end of press freedom as we know it as some of the more hysterical commentators would have you believe. Still at the heart off the matter is an inviolable principle, that parliament should not be let anywhere near the regulation of press conduct.

Those proposing the change do not understand this principle; some indeed choose to cite the BBC as an example of a news organisation that is regulated and yet enjoys complete editorial freedom and independence. After this weekends comments by the appalling Mr Grant Shapps, the Chairman of the Conservative Party, I suspect they may not be quite so keen to draw on that analogy.[1]

The success of Mr Shapps intimidation of the BBC will be in the very nature of such things invisible, self censorship being the most effective. A story toned down here, subtle changes to wording, an investigation simply not commissioned “in the current climate.” In the run up to charter and licence fee renewal the BBC will tread carefully indeed, every effort will be made to ensure that nothing too controversial, nothing that could upset the government, will find its way onto our screens or the airwaves. With what is going to be an extremely hard fought general election looming, this suits the coalition government perfectly. What the oily Mr Shapps intended by his remarks was a reminder to the BBC of the hard fact that it is the government that controls the purse strings; though true to form he spoke with all the subtly of the saloon bar bully.[2]

Mr Shapps, who cannot stop grinning, as if he were the recipient of a insidious private joke,* is not the first politician to bully the BBC, this is a well trodden path, Blair and his sidekick Alistair Campbell for example, also did a pretty good job.

These are the same politicians who now want, for the first time, to involve themselves in regulation of the press.

Trust us, they say, politicians will be at one remove, they would only be involved in underpinning statuary regulation; this will satisfy many.
Think now about the creepy Mr Shapps, do you want such a man even within smelling distance of a free press? A man who would not recognise a public interest defence if it bit him on the ass.
Also remember once you let politicians into the same room as press regulation, no matter how little, they are there to stay and after a period of time, particularly when they have been on the receiving end of some rough treatment at the hands of newspaper editors, they may decide they want to take up a little more room
.   

*Which of course after a fashion, given that the Tories are governing as if they had been given an overwhelming public mandate, he is.


[2] Mr Shapps called into question the ‘credibility’ of the BBC. This from a man recently censured by the Office of National Statistics for misrepresenting statistical data!


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