I can't repeat my Ipso facto joke yet again. But there, I just did. The announcement that almost all of the major publishers have signed up to fund the Independent Press Standards Organisation, and agreed therefore to be regulated by it, is hardly a shock.But Paul Vickers, the Trinity Mirror director who has been leading the industry's implementation group, is right in saying that it marks "an important milestone" in the process of setting up the new system.It is formal confirmation of the publishing companies' refusal to be bound by the provisions laid down in the press regulation royal charter and it amounts to a giant snub to the coalition and the Labour party leadership.It is also a two-fingered salute to Hacked Off, the body that represents the victims of past press misbehaviour, which is credited with creating the charter in company with the politicians.In effect, the publishers - having constructed their own train set - are unsurprisingly happily leaping aboard.Vickers says that the publishers who have signed amount to "more than 90% of the national press and the vast majority of the regional press, along with major magazine publishers."They include the national newspaper publishers - the Telegraph Media Group, Associated Newspapers, News UK and Trinity Mirror - plus Northern & Shell, which has been outside the current regulatory system for several years. Independent Print is expected to sign soon.Among the regional groups that have signed up are Newsquest,... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2013-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]