Appendix 1 - Reply from the Government
1. The Government thanks the Committee for its report
on self-regulation. The industry benefits enormously from this
type of Parliamentary scrutiny periodically, as it serves to air
issues of concern, and helps to prevent complacency in the self-regulatory
process.
2. We certainly agree the report's over-arching conclusion—that
self-regulation of the press should be maintained. We further
agree that there is no case for statutory regulation and that
a free press is a hallmark of our democracy.
3. For these reasons, it is entirely appropriate
that the Committee's recommendations are directed to the industry
and its own regulator, the Press Complaints Commission (PCC).
4. The key issues for this inquiry were the events
which led to the imprisonment of the News of the World
reporter, Clive Goodman, for his part in tapping telephone messages.
The PCC has already made it clear that it deplored such behaviour.
Not only did the News of the World act against the law,
but it also breached the Code of Practice overseen by the PCC.
After the Committee completed its inquiry, the PCC also concluded
its own investigation and published detailed new guidelines for
editors on subterfuge and newsgathering. These guidelines make
a number of the changes as recommended by the Committee and introduced
a number of additional measures. Key changes are that:
Contracts between the press and external contributors
or service providers should contain explicit requirements to abide
by the PCC's Code of Practice and the Data Protection Act;
Staff contracts should contain reference to the need
to abide by the Code of Practice and the Data Protection Act;
The press should review regularly their procedures
and training in the Data
Protection Act and other privacy-related matters,
including the need for stringent audits of cash payments.
5. We believe that the implementation of these measures
will do much to bolster public confidence in the way information
for stories is gathered.
6. We note the Committee's views on the issue of
custodial sentences for offences under section 55 of the Data
Protection Act.
7. The Committee's recommendations did not seek to
intervene in any way in what a newspaper or magazine might choose
to publish, but looked at the way in which information is gathered.
This is an area of legitimate public concern. If self-regulation
is to continue to be supported by the public, then the industry
itself must remain vigilant about ensuring that it gathers its
information in an ethical way.
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