APPENDIX 35
Memorandum submitted by the Head of Media
Relations at Granada Media Group Ltd
I am writing following the announcement that
the Select Committee is examining the role of the Press Complaints
Commission in dealing with intrusions by the media into people's
privacy.
I thought I might briefly outline my own experience
of that organisation. As the Head of Media Relations for Granada's
interests in the south of England, I look after publicity and
press relations for a number of ITV stars. Some of them, such
as Cilla Black, have had cause to complain formally to the PCC.
She has actually complained a couple of times, encouraged after
her first complaint was dealt with quickly and gave her proper
redress for the publication of unauthorised long lens photographs
which were taken while she was at her home in Spain. The result
of the Commission's upheld adjudication has been that the photos
never appeared again, and no newspaper has attempted to obtain
or publish similar ones.
Other stars have used the PCC's advice lines
and sought information informally about how to deal with a particular
problem. The advice that the PCC gives always seems to be appropriate
and practical.
But I also wanted to mention ordinary members
of the public—given that your enquiry is chiefly concerned
with such people. You may know that recently the growth of talent
shows like Popstars, Pop Idol and Soapstars has projected a large
number of ordinary people into the public eye. Some go on to become
"celebrities" in their own right, but others are just
of interest to the media for a short while. On a number of occasions
enquiries about these people have come through our press offices
and I can assure you that the Code of Practice has been an invaluable
tool in persuading journalists not to pursue lines of enquiry
that we regard as intrusive.
I have been involved in media relations for
15 years and can say from experience that while in the early 1990s
the Commission might have been regarded as a bit of an irrelevance,
its authority has grown strongly since then, and in particular
in the last five years.
29 January 2003
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