The Edi ' - The Leveson Inquiry

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For Distribution to CPs
s~i~osop~s~ s~d s si~it 0~’£ the Cod~
~=he Preamble is the key to understanding the Editors’ Code of
t Practice. It is the part of the Code which defines the rest. it sets
out not only the balance of rights and responsibilities of editors and
publishers in a free press regime, but also the underpinning
tion and the spirit of the Cede -- the glue
Universal compliance: The Preamble places on pub!Ishers
an(] editors the ultimate duty of care to ensure that the rules
are implemented. It a!so ends uncertainty over wno Is covereo
by the Code by abolishmg outdated diet fictions between
journalists and photograpners, or other suppliers or providers
OT editorial services.
In the context of the Code, the rules for journalists apply to
all editorial staff external contributors or suppliers of
editorial material.
For exam3!e, m cases covering c!enoastine oevlces one
subterfuge, this wou!o normal y inc uae information su3puee
by intermediaries or agents.
Online pubttcatione: Editofia matena in online versions of
news 3apers anti magazines s covereo s pacifically. The rules
apply to on!Ine versions of the newspapers an(3 magazmes
as opposed to freestanding on lne publications enG as
with the print versions, embrace editorial material only.
Increasmgly, newspapers’ and magazines online content
is very different from that in the print versions including, for
exampe, user-generated blogs aria chatraoms one aurae
vlsue material, some of which wou!o not normally be subject
to editona control ....
Therefore, m 2007, the Press Standards Board of Finance
ISSUe(] a @#;oatice I~0[~ extending the remit to cover audio
visual editorial material and the Preamble was amended to
reftect that. Se~ else Co, moMrl~s 6bou~ webs£~s
Editorial material was defined as that for which the editor
was responsible and could reasonably have been expected
to apply the terms of ~he Code.
User-generated content such as blogs and chatrooms
continues to be exc uded as does audio visual material that
had been produced to conform to the standards of another
regulator- such as live or syndicated TV or radio
The spirit of the Code, the voluntary will and commitment to
making the system work not just to the letter, is an essential element
and one rarely available to any statutory or }egalistic system.
it is only by invoking that spirit of flexibility that the balance -protecting
both the rights of the individual and the public’s right to
know-- upon which the success of a self-regulatory system relies,
can be struck.
Although the Code does not try to set Olympian ethics likely to be
more honourad in the breach, it is committed to the highest
standards end sees these guidelines as the starting point.
The spirit of the Code is embodied in the editors’ commitment to
honour it neither tee narrowly nor too broadly m and not just to the
latter This is a clear message to the industry, the PCC and to the
public that this is an even*handed, practical Code based on solid
principles rather than abstruse definitions buried in the fine print. It
should net be abused either by editors trying to tiptoe around the
rules, or by comp~a=nants playing the system to the detriment of the
public’s right to Know.
The commit:merit to freedom of expression and publication in the
public interest is at the core of the philosopher Taken with the
previous commitment, and the Public interest defences ~ So÷ ~-ec~o~’~
Si;: it demonstrates the balance to be struck:
No compromises on the rights of the individual but --
No unnecessary interference either with freedom of expression
or with publication in the public interest.
Seth sides need to be weighed when taking a decision to pubtish
and when ad.udicating on complaints
programmes This reflects thetraditione epproacnappneeto
print versions wnere for example, Letters to the Editor are
coveree by the Code, but adverhsing an(] marketing materla
Is not.
Co-operation ~ith the PCC is the first test of the spirit of
the Code in action. The voluntary system cannot work without
umversa compnance by the Industry, an(] swift co-operation
rs the surest example of compliance
Once the PCC ~s mvolveo It" a case there Is reneweo
pressure foraspeeayresolutlon. First the Code requires of
editors swift co-operation with the PCC m trymg to resolve
the dispute. Second the PCC’s target s to resolve cases
withe 35 nays
Failure of publicatons to co-operate swiftly is, as the
Preamble makes clear, itself a oreacn ot the Code, wmcn
may result in censure. This heppeneo wnen a Sunday paper,
while standing by its story about a pop festival organiser who
complameo of inacouracles, simply failed to produce any
evidence.
The PCC upheld the complaint by default, remmamg
editors that it was their Code and self-regulation could work
only by the voluntary participation of the industry ~t~t(;mw~s~,
If foiling to act swiftly is one form of non-co-operation,
acting precipitately can be another, especlauy once the PCC
8 involved.
When an author complained that his book about the death
of Pope John Paul I had been misrepresented in e Sunday
magazine section in 2005, the PCC tried to negotiate a
mutually acceptable correction. But the magazme jumped the
gun, publishing its own correction -- despite being asked by
the PCC not to do so -- and without due prominence.
The Wording of the correction itself would
The panel
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