Sir, – The news that the chairman of the UK Press Complaints Commission (PCC) has been exploring the operation of the Press Council of Ireland (Home News, May 29th) suggests that at last the message is getting through to the British media establishment.
The Leveson inquiry has confirmed that the PCC has been both unable and unwilling to tackle the rotten culture which has corrupted a section of the British newspaper industry. No amount of window dressing will save the PCC and what is needed is an entirely new regulatory system. The Press Council of Ireland and the Office of Ombudsman may indeed provide an Irish solution to a British problem. This is not to say that the Irish model, still developing, is perfect but it does provide a possible framework for a new system of regulation in the UK.
Central to the success of the Irish model has been the genuine independence of both the ombudsman and the chairman of the Press Council of Ireland.
Prof Tom Mitchell, the first chairman, deserves great credit for his passionate support of genuine civic society involvement. The fact that there is a majority of non-industry representatives on the Irish council is extremely significant. The finance and administrative committee is also assiduously chaired by Seamus Boland, a non-industry nominee to the Press Council. Unlike the situation in Britain, the NUJ is an equal partner in the process, with a nominee on the Press Council of Ireland and direct involvement at committee level.
In Britain the notion that he who pays the piper calls the tune permeated the PCC. This, coupled with the treatment of editors as if they were sovereigns ruling with divine rights, contributed to the blighting of an industry which has contributed so much to British society – and continues to do so.
There are many fine journalists in the UK who hope that genuine engagement with civic society and the NUJ will be an integral part of the development of a new regulatory model. – Yours, etc,