New press watchdog plans attacked by campaigners
NEWSPAPERS and magazines took the first steps today towards setting up a new press watchdog in the wake of the phone hacking scandal - and were immediately criticised by campaigners.
Plans for the creation of the Independent Press Standards Organisation, which will have the power to impose fines of up to £1 million and force editors to publish upfront corrections, will go out to consultation with publishers following Lord Justice Leveson’s call for a new regulator to be created.
But Hacked Off, which represents some of the victims of phone hacking, claimed the move was a “cynical rebranding exercise” that showed the industry was “determined to hold on to the power to bully the public without facing any consequences”.