Privacy and Injunctions - Evidence - Parliament

Richard Walker, Editor, Sunday Herald, John McLellan, Editor, The Scotsman, Matt
McKenzie, Editor, The Sunday Sun, Alastair Machray, Editor, Liverpool Echo, and Neil
Fowler, Nuffield College, Oxford—Oral evidence (QQ 210–272)
sorts of things come up, we aim to deal with them behind the scenes to prevent any form of
conflict.
Q211 The Lord Bishop of Chester: Given the evolving law of privacy both in
the UK and Europe in the last 10 years, from your editorial seats would you feel confident
that you know what is and is not private?
Richard Walker: I think the question would be: what is in the public interest? I think
that is vague.
Matt McKenzie: As a matter of course, if there was any debate about it we would
liaise with the PCC pre-publication. That happens quite a lot, not necessarily just on privacy
issues but across the board. Nowadays, editors will think more frequently than perhaps they
once did, “What would the PCC say about this?” That is not a bad rule of thumb with which
to start your editorial discussions, and that is a fairly common theme throughout the
industry.
Neil Fowler: I think most of us who work in the regions would agree but would also
take a view about what our readers and public would think. You have to walk among them;
you live in the patch; you know your readers; they know you; and they know where you
were. Local newspaper readers are very keen to come forward. As to the whole debate
about privacy, if senior executives on the newspaper felt something was a little contentious,
they would debate it thoroughly beforehand. In regional newspapers you want to scrutinise
what is happening in local courts, local authorities and local businesses, but at the same time
you know you have to deal with those people the day after. It is not a question of one big
story where a national may come in, do it and go away and not come on to your patch for
months or years again. You are there the whole time. There will be a continuous debate
among the senior team on what is right and wrong. As I think you will see from looking at
PCC adjudications on privacy against the regional press, there have been very few cases.
Q212 George Eustice: I want to probe a little further the difference between
regional and national newspapers. Some of the evidence we have received suggests that
national newspapers have pushed the public interest defence beyond reasonable bounds in
order to cover certain stories. From what you have said, do you think there is any truth in
the suggestion that, because of the culture you describe, regional papers adhere more
closely to the PCC code than national newspapers?
Alastair Machray: I go back to the point I made earlier. We are in the business of
keeping our readers onside for the long term, not inflating sales through casual purchase.
That makes us far more aware of the PCC code and the need to be seen to be responsible
in our communities. The ability of the PCC to provide pre-publication advice has been most
helpful. At the moment the regional press is going through a very difficult time. We cannot
go around shattering reader confidence by publishing stories that irritate one person: he
speaks to his family; they speak to their friends; and all of a sudden there are 200 people
who will never buy the Echo again. We simply cannot afford such a cavalier approach to
journalism.
Neil Fowler: It is important to stress that good regional and local papers do not shy
away from doing a hard story when necessary, especially when it comes to scrutinising a
local authority or particular court cases. There is greater awareness that, if you want to do a
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