Commentary

Control By Threat -- Why The Government's Bid To Tame The Media Has Failed

As if the Government needed any reminding, Friday's unceremonious dumping of Impress as the sponsor of the British Journalism Awards told it exactly what the big hitters in the media think of regulation via Royal Charter. The country's national newspapers were unhappy about the regulator's involvement because none have signed up to be regulated by the body, which recently secured the Royal Charter.

As ever, there's a lot more to it that appears. First of all, a regulator sponsoring an awards do sounds a bit off, doesn't it? Secondly, a regulator that the big guys object to but some smaller, local players and minor magazine have signed up to could obviously be seen to have a dog in the proverbial fight. What happens when it comes to awards in which its guy might be fighting it out for top honours with those signed up to Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO)?

Of course, the big issue is that the national newspapers don't want Impress anywhere near its awards. They simply don't want anything to do with it. Whether you believe the Royal Charter amounts to state control of the media or not, it is clear that the Government's attempt to bring in a new regulatory body for the press has been an abject failure.

How so? Well the government has given Royal Charter status to Impress that was -- and I kid you not 00 set up by Max Mosley, who has an opinion on the press. He is equally as famous in the UK for being the former president of motor racing's FIA as he is for having been in the tabloids for all the wrong reasons. He won his case that a story in the News of the World which revealed embarrassing details of his sex life infringed his privacy. So there's no need to go in to the detail here, other than to say the episode obviously convinced him that change was needed. He went on to guarantee the court costs of anyone taking the News of the World to court over phone-hacking allegations.

I make no judgement on what he likes to get up to in his spare time with consenting adults, but clearly he is very driven to change the country's press regulatory system. So much so that he launched Impress, which now has the government's official backing after being awarded the Royal Charter. 

There are two huge points raised by this. The most obvious is that the UK's press will never allow itself to be controlled or regulated in any way via the Government or monarch of the day. You may disagree that the Royal Charter means this, but I can assure you this is how the press sees it. Hence, IPSO was formed and is backed by the the vast majority of the national press. 

Why? Because there's a second really important issue here. The Government is threatening those media outlets that do not join its officially approved regulator that they could end up paying the court costs of someone who takes them to court, as well as their own, even if the newspaper wins the case. The law has not been enacted yet. It's hanging over the media as a very thinly veiled threat.

The press is having none of it, however, and has told the Government exactly what it thinks of the industry being opened up to being sued with no risk to the accuser. Those who have signed up to Impress are believed to be insuring themselves against paying the legal bills of any future unsuccessful claimants. That's why the big players with the budgets to stand by their principles have stood firm, the crumbling local press and magazine sector has seen some sign-ups to Impress.

So right here, right now, do you actually think there is a politician brave enough to take on the media and enact the new law? With Theresa May unelected and enjoying a tiny majority in the Commons with the need to have the press on her side in tricky Brexit negotiations, do you think she dare poke the national media in the eye?

It's not going to happen. The thinly veiled weapon will remain sheathed and the current system of the officially backed regulator not regulating the national press will continue. The attempt to bring the media to heal has not worked. It has been an embarrassing failure to the extent that its name on a placard at a journalism awards do won't even be tolerated.

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