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Press Complaints Commission widens its remit
155/Nicholas Jones
DATELINE: 26/12/06
In what is likely to become a highly significant widening of its remit, the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) has begun adjudicating on complaints about the content of video and audio material on newspaper websites.
Sir Christopher Meyer, the Commission’s Chairman, has welcomed what he says is the opportunity to "plant the standard of self-regulation in the new and virgin field of the video and audio content" produced by press reporters.
On 6 November, in a speech to the annual conference of the Society of Editors in Glasgow Meyer thanked the industry for this latest vote of confidence in self-regulation.
The Commission has been considering complaints about the editorial content of newspaper websites since 1999 and Sir Christopher feared that if there had not been an extension to include audiovisual material, "god knows who might have moved in, it might have been something from the Government or the law courts".
The rapid spread of newspaper websites and the impact of their increasing audiovisual content dominated proceedings at the conference and prompted broadcasters to ask why they should continue to be controlled by a regulatory regime which forbids the kind of opinionated journalism which newcomers can deliver on the internet.
What also emerged was the prospect of far greater local competition for the best video and audio material with radio and television services having to come to terms with regular news bulletins on newspaper websites.
A vivid illustration of multi-media working in the future was provided by the editors of a regional daily and a local weekly. Three additional journalists have been hired by the Newbury Weekly News during the last 17 months to help gather and prepare video and audio material for a website, a five minute daily news bulletin and weekend sports news. The Hull Daily Mail, the first regional title to produce daily video news reports, now has 30 video journalists.
When asked how broadcasters could compete with a newspaper like the Hull Daily Mail when it beat them to audiovisual material on major stories, John Ryley, head of Sky News, said it was not only the speed of response but also the integrity of the journalism which would count. Nonetheless he said Sky News was looking into the possibility of "reaching further into the regions" in order to strengthen its local reporting.
When it came to the websites of national newspapers, Alan Rusbridger, Editor of The Guardian, believed greater editorial freedom would help them compete with radio and television. Although the BBC’s video material would be far superior, the 600 journalists employed by the Guardian group would benefit from self regulation. "We don’t have to be fair, impartial and balanced - and all that stuff - and that will give us some kind of advantage".
When it was put to the head of Sky News that established television correspondents like Jeremy Thompson were forbidden by the broadcasting regulations from delivering the provocative and opinionated journalism of columnists like Polly Toynbee and Jackie Ashley, Ryley was convinced it would be impossible to sustain different regulatory regimes for the websites of newspapers and broadcasting organisations. "I think there will have to be a change in the regulations. Technology will batten down the law. New political websites like 18DoughtyStreet are already breaking down the regulations".
No wonder Sir Christopher seemed so pleased that the PCC had made the running and brought newspaper websites within the orbit of self regulation. He felt adjudicating on audiovisual material was a logical extension of their work and would be accepted by the public. "I hope the knowledge that the product you are reading and now viewing comes under the codes of the Press Complaints Commission will be seen as a kind of kite mark".
Last modified: Tuesday, December 26, 2006
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