Editor of the Independent backs Labour calls to license journalists
The editor of the Independent, Chris Blackhurst, has backed a proposal by shadow culture secretary Ivan Lewis which would see journalists ‘struck off’ should they be found guilty of gross malpractice.
Speaking to the Media Show on BBC Radio 4, Blackhurst said that he would support the licensing of journalists, as proposed during the Labour Party Conference by Lewis this week, an idea that has been described as ‘disappointing’ by the NUJ.
Blackhurst highlighted The Jockey Club, which as the power to ban jockeys from riding horses, as being in a similar position, and added that a ‘new body[‘ should also be created to replace the Press Complaints Commission’ with new powers of regulation.
He added that columnist for the Independent, Johann Hari should be forced to pay back the £2,000 prize money he won when picking up the Orwell Prize, having admitted to plagiarism.