Media Standards Trust submits PCC reforms

The Media Standards Trust has today submitted 28 recommendations on how the Press Complaints Commission and self-regulation of  the press could be reformed.

They include making investigations of breaches of the Code of Practice for journalists without a complaint having been made; accepting complaints from any source; placing a financial value on an adjudication which would be reflected by the size and prominence of the publication’s correction.
The MST says its proposals are supported by its survey on the press, conducted by Ipsos MORI. The findings were released last week.
It also says the submission - "Can independent self-regulation keep standards high and preserve press freedom" - made today to the PCC's independent governance review, recognizes "the valuable mediation work done by the PCC, but shows that the public expect more."
The MST says: "The public does not appear to support the PCC’s current constitutional limitation of usually investigating only when a complaint is received from someone directly involved in the article."
Martin Moore, director of the Media Standards Trust, said: “The Press Complaints Commission was established to act as a newspaper and magazine complaints mediation body. Since then public expectations, fuelled by the media, have changed.
“The public wants an independent self-regulator that, in addition to mediating complaints, monitors compliance with the code and conducts regular investigations. The PCC, as currently constituted, does not and cannot do this."