[Commlist] New report on IPSO (Independent Press Standards Organisation)

You may be interested in a new report that we have just published on the 
Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) which was set up as a 
press regulator by some of the largest newspaper publishers following 
the 2011/12 Leveson Inquiry.

The full report is available on this page: 
https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/v4zx8/ipso-regulator-or-complaints-handler-how-uk-news-publishers-set-up-their-own-regulator-to-avoid-scrutiny 
<https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/v4zx8/ipso-regulator-or-complaints-handler-how-uk-news-publishers-set-up-their-own-regulator-to-avoid-scrutiny> 


A short 6 page summary report is available here: 
https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/v4zx9/ipso-regulator-or-complaints-handler-summary 
<https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/v4zx9/ipso-regulator-or-complaints-handler-summary> 


The report is based on original documentary analysis, and reveals for 
the first time how IPSO was set up largely as a predetermined industry 
plan rather than as a response to the Leveson recommendations. It also 
reveals how:

  * a last-minute wording change to IPSO’s regulations by publishers
    effectively removed its ability to launch a standards investigation
    or impose sanctions, thereby reducing it to little more than a
    complaints-handling body
  * the industry has made it almost impossible for IPSO to gather
    complete information on code breaches, and therefore to monitor
    compliance with regulatory standards.
The report concludes that “IPSO’s hands have been tied by the industry, 
and…. does not have the tools to fulfil the task of genuinely 
independent and effective self-regulation.”

We argue that the consequences of this ineffectual regulation are 
detrimental to the public who see injustices go unchallenged, and unfair 
to the vast majority of working journalists who follow agreed 
professional codes but see poor practices ignored. Crucially, deficient 
regulation undermines trust in a vital democratic institution at a time 
that professional newsgathering and accurate reporting are under huge 
pressure from social media platforms.

We believe there are important policy implications for the forthcoming 
Online Safety Bill which seeks to protect certain journalistic 
privileges by reference to regulatory bodies that purport to act as 
guarantors of professional journalistic standards.

There are a limited number of hard copies available of the full report 
for those who think it may be a useful resource for their library (a 
quaint and outmoded concept, I appreciate).


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