Culture secretary states press Royal Charter could be made ‘redundant’
Culture secretary Maria Miller has rekindled talk of the newspaper industry implementing its own regulatory system after stating that a Royal Charter, passed just last week, to give state-backing to a new regulator could be made ‘redundant’ if the industry successfully established its own watchdog.
The sentiment gives fresh impetus to the industry to come up with a viable alternative to the proposal - although Miller maintains that she still hopes the industry will sign up to the Royal Charter.
The Royal Charter was approved by the Privy Council last week and provides statutory backing to a new regulatory system which will offer both protection from high damages in libel claims and a new complaints resolution service.
Such plans are vociferously opposed by the newspaper industry however, which believes that it could see politicians handed control over the press for the first time in 300 years.
Instead they are actively pursuing an alternative proposal for the establishment of an Independent Press Standards Organisation which would be entirely independent of any political interference.