Analysis by Alex Kocic
HERE we go again - another inquiry and another report documenting yet another case of journalists being up to no good. And again, it is about not respecting families of the dead, wounded or missing. While the report did not name any specific news organisations, it made recommendations that mostly seem to address printed media.
Among the report’s main recommendations is for The Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) to review its Editor’s Code and consider developing a new one to deal specifically with events such as the Manchester attack. In his initial response, Ipsos chief executive Matt Tee said they would be “looking at what more can be done to support victims, families and the agencies that work with them, as well as making sure that Ipso-regulated publishers are aware of their obligations and responsibilities”.
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This is all fine, but it smacks of “we’ve heard it all before”. The Leveson Inquiry in 2012 made recommendations on how to prevent further such abuses of people’s privacy, but not much has happened. An old voluntary press regulator has been replaced by a new voluntary press regulator (Ipso), which only some newspapers have joined since (including The Herald). Those recommendations that would have required statutory changes were ignored by David Cameron’s government.
The report offers several examples of good practice that could serve as a template for future conduct. It highlights, among other things, a case of the BBC, which had set up a special team for contacts with Manchester attack families, in which a single journalist was assigned to each family so a massive organisation such as the BBC was not making multiple contacts.
Manchester attack: Journalists broke news of deaths to relatives
It also recommends that journalists are included in the training programme provided to Family Liaison Officers by the police. That would certainly be a good start. But, more importantly, let’s hope that it will provide a new momentum for a debate on how far press regulation should go in the UK. Ordinary citizens are highly sceptical of the media and the reputation of journalists is low. Recent experience shows that voluntary moves do not bring long-term solutions. Maybe it is time not to shy away from debating stricter regulation of the press, including a statutory one.
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