Memorandum submitted by Periodical Publishers
Association (PPA)
On behalf of the Periodical Publishers Association
(PPA), the representative body of the 8,000 or so titles in the
magazine and business-to-business publishing sector, I am writing
to reaffirm publishers' commitment to the self-regulatory processes
for advertising and for the Press.
We believe that, by any measure, the Advertising
Standards Authority (ASA) and the Press Complaints Commission
(PCC) have demonstrated over a number of years that they provide
effective self-regulatory control of newspapers and magazines
and efficient and effective remedy for complainants.
The magazine industry accounts for around 6%
of complaints to the PCC, a figure which has been remarkably consistent
for at least 15 years. Editors in this sector support the Code
of Practice through representation on the Editors' Code Committee
and publishers through contributing a proportionate share to the
costs of the PCC through the Press Board of Finance (Pressbof)
to which PPA nominates two representatives.
Publishers are urged to insist that compliance
with the Code is enshrined within the job descriptions of all
journalists and within the contracts of all freelance journalists
they commission.
Magazine editors and publishers are cognisant
of the fact that, while there are relatively few complaints about
magazines, our sector is not without its high profile examples
of, particularly, celebrity ire. It is perhaps worth noting that,
in such cases, recourse to law can often be an option for those
seeking more punitive resolution than the sanctions open to the
PCC.
However, as demonstrated by the PCC submission,
in the vast majority of cases speedy, inexpensive resolution of
complaints is what is sought—and what the PCC so effectively
provides.
As a further demonstration of magazine commitment
to self-regulation we would draw the attention of members to the
Teenage Magazine Arbitration Panel (TMAP) which provides a Process
similar to that of the PCC of regulation and remedy for complainants
against occasional excesses by teenage magazines.
PPA urges the Select Committee members to study
the submission by the PCC which provides a most compelling argument
as to why self-regulation is the most effective form of regulation
for the press.
Notwithstanding occasional lapses possible under
any system, the Press is demonstrably prepared to respect a code
which editors have prescribed for themselves—a situation
unlikely to pertain were a code to be imposed.
While acknowledging that any system may be improved,
PPA urges the Select Committee to place its focus on the strengths
of the self-regulatory system which offers a solution which has
such widespread support both within Government, at the most senior
levels, and the industry itself.
4 February 2003
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