Lord Black to step back from Ipso and focus instead on UK and EU 'threats to our freedoms'
Lord Black is to step back from the press industry’s press regulation system Ipso once it is up and running.
Stepping away: Lord Black
The Tory peer and executive director of Telegraph Media Group has been a key figure in the establishment of the Independent Press Standards Organisation, which will soon replace the criticised Press Complaints Commission (PCC), but he is expected to tell the Scottish Newspaper Society (SNS) conference on Thursday that he will take a step back and instead invest his energy into tackling “threats to our freedoms” from the UK government and EU.
He is expected to tell the conference: “The threats to our freedoms, from both a UK Government perspective but also from the EU, are now so severe, and the political environment so deeply hostile, that I need to concentrate on tackling them, along with other colleagues throughout the industry.”
Lord Black, who is also chair of the Press Board of Finance (PresBof) and a former director of the PCC, will deliver a keynote speech at the inaugural SNS conference. Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond will also speak at the event.
John McLellan, director of the Scottish Newspaper Society, said: “Lord Black has been pivotal in the fight to maintain press freedom in the UK and a key figure in press regulation so his speech marks an important moment in the next phase of its development.”
Many of the press industry’s heavy hitters - such as News UK, Trinity Mirror and Newsquest – have backed the industry’s Ipso self-regulation plan and staunchly opposed the government’s proposals of regulation through a Royal Charter.
The Financial Times, however, this week announced it would not sign up to either and will instead introduce an internal process for dealing with complaints. Other publications such as the Guardian are yet to decide.
The news comes on the same day as an open letter to Rupert Murdoch from victims of press intrusion was published, accusing News UK of “scaremongering” on press regulation and urging the industry to “embrace change”.
“Instead of embracing reform and so demonstrating that it has changed, News UK is digging itself into a hole of untrustworthiness and denial. Instead of making a break with a shameful past, it is clinging to that past,” the letter stated.
“Unless there is a change of heart, News UK is again on course for governance failure, disastrous costs, harm to British citizens and public disgrace. We urge you to use your influence to ensure that the management of News UK embraces a change that is necessary, safe and good for both the company and the British public.”
Among the signatories on the letter were Kate and Gerry McCann, whose daughter Madeleine has been missing since 2007, and Christopher Jefferies, who won damages from eight newspapers after coverage following his arrest after the death of his tenant Joanna Yeates. Jefferies was later cleared of any involvement in the murder, but later told the Leveson Inquiry that he had been “vilified” by the media regardless.