UK newspapers announce plan for press watchdog

Newspapers and magazines in the UK took the first steps today towards setting up a new press watchdog in the wake of the phone hacking scandal – and were immediately criticised by campaigners.

Plans for the creation of the Independent Press Standards Organisation, which will have the power to impose fines of up to £1 million and force editors to publish upfront corrections, will go out to consultation with publishers following Lord Justice Leveson’s call for a new regulator to be created.

But Hacked Off, which represents some of the victims of phone hacking, claimed the move was a “cynical rebranding exercise” that showed the industry was “determined to hold on to the power to bully the public without facing any consequences”.

Documents drawn up by the Industry Implementation Group will be considered by more than 200 publishers before being finalised in the next few weeks.

They set out the structure and rules of the organisation, echoing those outlined in the royal charter put forward by the industry earlier this year, which is going before the Privy Council - the advisors to the crown.

That process may take months but the industry is pushing ahead with the creation of the independent self-regulator now because “the industry does not believe the public can be expected to wait longer before a new regulator is put in place”, according to a statement today.

The independent Foundation Group, chaired by former president of the Supreme Court Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, is ready to start the process of selecting the first members of the Appointment Panel for the new body, it added.

Hacked Off said the plans meant the industry was effectively saying it would only meet its own “appallingly low” standards.

Brian Cathcart, executive director of Hacked Off, said: “They have been told by Lord Justice Leveson and by Parliament that they must set up a self-regulator that meets basic standards of independence and effectiveness. What they are saying here is that they will not meet those standards but they will meet their own, which are appallingly low.

“By their actions they are telling the public that they are not answerable to judges, and not subject to the democratic will of Parliament. They are telling us that they are outlaws."

The industry insists the Independent Press Standards Organisation will be a ``complete break with the past'' and will deliver all the key recommendations made by Lord Justice Leveson.

A majority of its members at all levels will be independent and there will be no industry veto on appointments, the documents state.

An arbitration service to offer a speedy and inexpensive alternative to the libel courts will be set up, “subject to the successful conclusion of a pilot scheme”, and a standards and compliance arm will be able to call editors to account.

The document also sets out plans for a whistleblowers’ hotline and a warning service to alert the press, and other media such as broadcasters, when members of the public do not want to be approached.

Newspaper industry proposals for a royal charter to underpin a self-regulatory system for the press were formally submitted to the Privy Council Office in May after publishers rejected cross-party proposals.

Earlier this month Prime Minister David Cameron said the charter put forward by the press had ”serious shortcomings”.

He told MPs he had not changed his view on the issue and blamed procedural arrangements for delays in the cross-party charter being formally considered.