Newspapers return fire on Leveson

UK newspapers reacted negatively to what Lord Justice Leveson called the “essential” part of his recommendations to reform press behavior, the use of law to underpin an independent self-regulator.

The papers express themselves in much the same way, accepting the flaws of existing regulation and the need for the industry to produce something better, but rejecting the idea of a statute to guarantee its independence. The report’s recommendation that Ofcom, the communications regulator, be a statutorily accredited overseer of the regulator’s independence also unites the press in opposition to the Leveson proposals. David Cameron, the prime minister, is likely to be far happier than the man he commissioned to inquire into the standards and ethics of the press with the headlines chosen by the industry. The Daily Mail hailed his “stand for freedom”, contrasting this with what it claims are Labour’s plans to include statutory regulation of the press in its next general election manifesto, while the Mail’s leading article dismisses the central recommendations of the 2,000-page report.