Last week saw a huge development in the post-Leveson regime with the three political parties agreeing to a royal charter to regulate the press and ensure its independence from government. Lord Puttnam suggests there are two ways to view the royal charter; as the end to hundreds of years of press freedom or as a step forward to ensuring a free and fair media that serves the interests of citizens and democracy. Which is it then?
There is at least one significant positive arising from the royal charter, this being the guaranteed independence of the press from government which will serve to ensure there is meaningful and independent debate on government policies and actions. But the UK is founded and governed on the principle of free speech and democracy so the separation of the press and government has not been a great concern. The royal charter merely serves to provide some entrenchment to the separation of the press and government and codify a principle that already exists.
There is a darker side to a royal charter and that is the way it will regulate how the press investigate and report on important issues. Take for example the phone-hacking scandal which sparked the Leveson inquiry. If it wasn’t for the kind of investigative journalism the charter is likely to preclude, this scandal would never have been brought to the attention of the public. The Guardian’s Simon Jenkins has described the charter as a “chilling deterrent to serious press investigation” and described the press’ future as difficult because it will be as if they’re wearing a “ball and chain”. He’s not wrong and the charter should not stop what uncovered the phone-hacking scandal and instigated the Leveson inquiry in the first place. To do so would be to undermine the very basis for reform.
The charter is a double edged sword which could result in a stifled press rather than the legitimate press the government envisages. With that in mind, it is possible the press and news organisations will boycott joining the new system in order to preserve the practices that led to uncovering the phone hacking scandal.
