NEWSPAPERS HOUND DEPUTY SPEAKER.

Some time ago, a man was arrested by police on suspicion that he may have been involved in the disappearance and murder of a young woman in Bristol. The newspapers and other media went to town and had him tried, convicted and sentenced on their front pages within moments, although the man was eventually released without charge, having been determined to have had no part in the crime.

 

Today's papers are in serious danger of repeating this disaster by covering, in great depth, a story concerning a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons. This man has been arrested on suspicion of rape and sexual assault though he's also been released on police bail, suggesting that any evidence is less than robust. Nonetheless, his career as a politician may well be over and, if he's ultimately determined to be innocent of any offences, it will be purely because of the manic behaviour of the press.

 

Lord Leveson's recommendations and the Government's proposals for regulating the press have been largely condemned by the self-same press; they claim that 'freedom of the press' is a fundamental element of any democracy and that they should be allowed to regulate themselves, which they can do in a highly responsible fasion. Sadly, this latest piece of headline-hunting journalism by almost every newspaper shows, very strongly, that they cannot.

 

Our newspapers are out of control, desperately seeking headlines that will make them money. Something needs to be done and it can't be done by themselves; that leaves some form of independent regulation as the only option and the sooner it's put in place, the better.

THE PRESS MUST BE FREE BUT RESPONSIBLE.

David Cameron's failure to embrace the Leveson Report with any enthusiasm demonstrates just how much our political classes run in fear of the press. In turn, this clearly shows that it is long passed time that the media had its wings clipped.

 

This is not to say that I'm in favour of the government taking control of the press but it is clear that the current 'self-regulation' has failed miserably; any replacement self-regulatory arrangement is likely to be every bit as useless and impotent. that What is needed is a framework established by law which guarantees the freedom of the press while also making sure that it behaves in an acceptably civilized fashion. There is no reason at all why there should not be a wholly independent body in place of the discredited 'Press Council' and which can properly respond to complaints from those whom the press abuses. Such a body could be set up, chiared by a retired judge and with, perhaps, 2 representatives from the media and 2 from the public; the Press would, of course, foot the bill as they do now, but they would have far less ability to sweep things under the carpet.

 

There can be no doubt that some elements of the media are out of control and feel themselves to be beyond the reach of the law. The 'phone hacking scandal was merely the tip of a very nasty iceberg, the submerged parts of which include all of the grubby bits of journalism - the manufactured stories for pure sensationalist value, long range pictures of well known people living their lives, every type of intrusion into peoples' privacy for the purpose of making money alone. Most of these activities, all of which have usually been justified on the basis of 'the public interest', have been the mark of a dysfunctional press reacting to the salacious appetites of an uneducated and ignorant public.

 

It is time for a change.