My Ideas for a New Look PCC. Part one.

Addendum to my previous blog that commented on an online article published by the Press Gazette on 21 January 2010.

As background information to this new blog please note that, the Chairman of the Press Complaints Commission [PCC], Baroness Buscombe, initiated an Independent Governance Review of the PCC, and invited submissions to the Panel formed to conduct the review.
More or less at the same time the Editors' Code of Practice Committee are due to hold their annual review of their Code, they also invited submissions in regard to their Code. It should be stressed that these reviews are completely separate.

I have written twice to both the Governance Panel and the Editors' Committee. The following paragraph was communicated to both Panel and Committee.

"Kindly consider the following reasoning, an industry can be independently regulated, an industry can be self-regulated but, I contend, an industry cannot be independently self-regulated. If the industry happens to be the publishing industry the power of the press can be used to support the effectiveness of their "Independent Self-Regulation". When the PCC self praise themselves, as they do, regarding the effectiveness of independent self-regulating they should at the same time acknowledge that they are dependent on the publishing industry, for the Code they have to follow, and for the funding, from the same source, that enables them to operate. Having acknowledged that they should think long and hard about the correctness of using the word independent in regard to their status." End of quote.

In trying to reconcile "independent self-regulation" with the fact that the PCC is dependent on the publishing industry for its very existence, I feel that both parties are guilty of trying to justify and perpetuate an Alice in Wonderland type charade. This coupled with other shortcomings has left both parties open to criticism. In my next blog I will outline what I think will go a long way toward justifying the expression "Self- Regulating" as well being much more effective in dealing with complaints, satisfying most critics and forestalling Government intervention except in exceptional circumstances. One example of that being "A right of reply", or, to show that I am, hopefully, not lacking in humour "A write of reply", or even "Rite of reply". There is, of course, nothing to stop the publishing industry introducing a cast iron right of reply themselves.

Yours sincerely,

Frederick W Gilling

Tuesday 02 February 2010