APPENDIX 45
Memorandum submitted by the Editor of
the Sunday Mail
As Editor of the Sunday Mail, one of
Trinity Mirror's five national titles, I endorse my company's
submission to the committee's inquiry into privacy and media intrusion.
However, I would emphasise concern over the phrase people "not
generally in public life".
A keystone of the Sunday Mail is investigative
journalism. In January we identified a crime clan who made £16
million from drugs and violence.
Many of those named were "not generally
in public life". However, there was clear public interest.
My concern is that new privacy laws will be
used by those with something to hide—in the above case wealthy
organised criminals—to curtail such investigations. The
Sunday Mail rarely receives complaints from people outside
public life about invasion of privacy.
The PCC offers a quick, cheap alternative to
the law in balancing privacy and free speech.
A privacy law would result in long and expensive
litigation and act against the interests of "people not generally
in the public life".
7 February 2003
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