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Lord Leveson BBC

Leveson Report: "Putting a policeman in every newsroom is no sort of answer"

Lord Leveson said that a new independent regulatory body should be set up so that the press could regulate itself. He also criticised the link between politicians and the press.

THE LEVESON REPORT has been released today, following an eight month inquiry by Lord Justice Brian Leveson on foot of the UK hacking scandal.

The first part of the inquiry, which today’s report deals with, examined the relationship the press holds with the public, police and politicians.

Report

Speaking today at a press conference to announce the release of the report, Lord Leveson said this was the seventh time in less than 70 years that such a review of the press had taken place.

He said that in nearly 9 months of oral hearings, 337 witnesses gave evidence in person and the statements of nearly 300 others were read onto the record.

The press operating freely and in the public interest “is one of the true safeguards of our democracy”, said Lord Leveson. He said that unfortunately as the evidence has shown beyond doubt, on too many occasions those responsibilities, along with the editors’ code of conduct which the press wrote and promoted, have simply been ignored.

This has damaged the public interest, caused real hardship and on occasion wreaked havoc on the lives of innocent people.

“Putting a policeman in every newsroom is no sort of answer,” he said.

Regulatory body

Lord Leveson recommended that an independent regulatory body be set up. He said this regulatory body would promote high standards of journalism and should set and enforce standards.

The body should: hear individual complaints against its members about breach of its standards and order appropriate redress while encouraging individual newspapers to embrace a more rigorous process for dealing with complaints internally; take an active role in promoting high standards, including having the power to investigate serious or systemic breaches and impose appropriate sanctions; and provide a fair, quick and inexpensive arbitration service to deal with any civil law claims based upon its members’ publications.

He added that the chair and other members of the body must be independent and appointed by fair and open process, and must comprise a majority of members who are independent of the press. It should not include any serving editor or politician.

Lord Leveson said it was not his role to establish a new press standards code, but said a code committee would have to be established, and this would advise the new body itself.

I suggest that the body should consider encouraging the press to be as transparent as possible in relation to sources and source material for its stories.

He suggested that the new independent self-regulatory body should establish a whistle-blowing hotline and encourage its members to ensure that journalists’ contracts include a conscience clause protecting them if they refuse. “A new regulatory body should consider establishing a kite mark for use by members to establish a recognised brand of trusted journalism,” he added.

He further recommended the provision of an arbitration service that is recognised and could be taken into account by the courts as an essential component of the system.

Lord Leveson recommended an enhanced system for protection of whistleblowers and for providing assistance for the police service on general ethical issues.

Legislation

Lord Leveson proposed that legislation should be enacted alongside regulation, “only for the narrow purpose of recognising a new, independent self-regulatory system”.

The legislation would not establish a body to regulate the press: it would be up to the press to come forward with their own body that meets the criteria laid down.

This legislation, said Lord Leveson, would enshrine for the first time a legal duty on the Government to protect the freedom of the press. “The legislation would not give any rights to Parliament, to the Government, or to any regulatory (or other) body to prevent newspapers from publishing any material whatsoever,” he noted.

He added that it would provide an independent process to recognise the new self-regulatory body and reassure the public that the basic requirements of independence and effectiveness were met and continue to be met.

It would also validate the body’s standards code and the arbitral system sufficient to justify the benefits in law that would flow to those who subscribed.

Politicians

The leaders of all three main UK political parties said at the time the inquiry was set up that politicians had become ‘too close’ to the press.

Leveson concluded that positive steps are needed to address a genuine and legitimate problem of public perception, and hence of trust and
confidence.

Lord Leveson said he is concerned about some lobbying and that is the responsibility of politicians to ensure decisions taken are seen to be based on the public interest as a whole. He said that the lobbying process should be open and transparent and the public should have a basic understanding of the process.

He recommended as a first step that political leaders “reflect constructively on the merits of publishing on behalf of their party a statement setting out, for the public, an explanation of the approach they propose to take as a matter of party policy in conducting relationships with the press.”

He has also recommended that the most senior Front Bench politicians, whether in Government or Opposition, should give very serious consideration to accepting the case for public transparency at least to some degree beyond the strict requirements of current law and practice.

I also recommend periodic disclosure, by way of general estimate only, of some basic information about the frequency or density of other communications (such as correspondence, phone, text and email).

Police

Regarding the police, Lord Leveson said that he has not seen any evidence to suggest that corruption by the press is a widespread problem in relation to the police. However, he said that the relationship between politics and the press has been too close.

Regarding off-the-record briefings by police, he said briefings should be designated as open, embargoed (in time), non-reportable or, where a combination, clear so as to be beyond doubt.

He has made recommendations as to how the process can be made much more transparent to ensure that in future there should be no risk even of the perception of bias. “It is essential that the UK retains a plural media with genuine diversity of ownership approach and perspective,” said Lord Leveson.

Lord Leveson concluded by saying he would make no further comment on the report.

IN FULL: The Leveson Report into culture, practice and ethics of British press>

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6 Comments
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    Mute Al
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    Nov 3rd 2015, 4:16 PM

    I Love Dublin.

    66
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    Mute Old Gabby Johnson
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    Nov 3rd 2015, 6:30 PM

    Its a kip.

    21
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    Mute Integra-Ted
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    Nov 3rd 2015, 6:33 PM

    Don’t let the door hit you on the way out of Dublin so!

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    Mute john
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    Nov 3rd 2015, 4:22 PM

    Stunningly lyrical piece..very entertaining…

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    Mute Cosmo Kramer
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    Nov 3rd 2015, 4:14 PM

    While Dublin has some brilliant People living in it and is very pretty it has turned into a dump.. The City Centre is full of junkies, drunks and gangs of young lads running riot. Beatings and stabbings are nearly a nightly occurrence and there’s not a Guard in sight.. Open drug dealings and drug taking can be seen all over the city centre..

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    Mute Al
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    Nov 3rd 2015, 4:18 PM

    Slight exaggeration. You always get one….

    40
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    Mute Harry Sheils
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    Nov 3rd 2015, 4:58 PM

    Got goosebumps listening to that. Fantastic.

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    Mute Vicko Aguilar
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    Nov 3rd 2015, 5:49 PM

    Beautiful! I ❤️ Dublin

    28
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    Mute Johnny
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    Nov 3rd 2015, 5:08 PM

    Dublin in a Cultural Jewel of Europe….not many cities have produced the amount Dublin has…U2 Bram Stoker Yeats Shaw Lynott Geldoff O’Hara and on and on the list goes….it took me a while but I love the city…not perfect but us Irish are far from perfect…

    About the controversy in Limerick City of Culture 2014…why feel the need to mention over and over again it when it was completely over amplified across the entire media infrastructure at the time…it was the 1st significant investment in culture in a City whose reputation had been destroyed by media…and it was the first city to expose political interference in Culture and how it is funded!!!

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    Mute joeythelad
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    Nov 3rd 2015, 4:51 PM

    I have been to a lot of European cities and I can tell you , you seldom seen junkies injecting openly on the streets ,mothers and fathers going around with kids in prams strung out , dirt and dog pooh and chewing gum littering the streets ,muggings, pickpockets, shoplifting , loads of stabbings and the frequent murder and theres much more I can add ,but that’s what Dublin is and that’s what I call a dump

    25
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    Mute danielplainview
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    Nov 3rd 2015, 6:22 PM

    You’re what I call a dope

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    Mute Ana Nonymous
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    Nov 3rd 2015, 8:32 PM

    Have to agree with what you have to say beautiful piece though!

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    Mute Diarmaid O'Fionnachta
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    Nov 4th 2015, 1:30 AM

    Joey you;d wanna go to Rome. Very sketchy, much more so than Dublin!

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    Mute Sean @114
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    Nov 3rd 2015, 9:27 PM

    Like every city it has it’s problems but the pros far outway the cons……. The view across Dublin bay from Howth head, the Phoenix Park, shielded by beautiful mountains, great night life, welcoming people, culturally diverse, Croke Park, Guinness Brewery, great museums and gallerys, fantastic georgian areas, beautiful canals etc etc. Does it have drug and crime problems? Absolutely. It needs to be dealt with urgently by those elected to do so. Is everyone full of top o the mornin to you and cead mile failte? No the natives are by and large welcoming and witty but like any city we have our troubles and strifes. Overall though it’s a smashing city, with great characters, lots of variety and is a pretty hip place to live. I’m proud to tell people that I am Irish and I am from Dublin.

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    Mute joeythelad
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    Nov 3rd 2015, 7:02 PM

    If people cant see what I say when they go into town they must be blind

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    Mute Qwerty
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    Nov 3rd 2015, 8:42 PM

    Remove beggers, bucket shakers and buskers. Then it would be much nicer.

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    Mute Catherine Mc
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    Nov 3rd 2015, 9:24 PM

    This it wouldn’t be Dublin !

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    Mute Qwerty
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    Nov 3rd 2015, 9:33 PM

    It would still be Dublin. Just without the harassment on the streets. It’s important to get rid of buskers and street performers too. It’s just begging via proxy. People should be forced to walk on the left on Grafton Street. Very annoying when you just need to get from A to B and Grafton Street is an obstacle course. Ban chewing gum all around the country too.

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    Mute Rathminder
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    Nov 4th 2015, 7:54 AM

    The audio was brilliant. Did the video need to begin with such dismal city scenes? Dublin is a city of golden light and great beauty as well as grey and dismal streets.

    2
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