Will Press Inquiry Impact on bloggers?
09 July 2011 by Paul Rhoades
Its very interesting to read the article which has just appeared on the Daily Telegraph's web site:
This is something I was thinking about earlier, and asking my self how long will it be until the government announce censure measure for bloggers and microblogging sites such as twitter and will any inquiry attempt to address social networks?
I don't believe that any changes to the Press Complaints Code of Conduct will realistically stop the some journalists using sources of information which are of a questionable nature as it covers this already! Certainly the PCC code of conduct currently is a farce due to its voluntary subscription nature.
Unfortunately it is held in very high regard by many, yet it is in effect worthless.
I only found this out by chance, but roll the clock back a couple of months to May, and you'll recall the local council elections. I wanted to run a cover it live session from the election count at my local authority on this blog, so I approached the council and asked if it would be possible as a member of the public to attend.
Initially I was told that there were a limited number of places for "officials" and as I was not working on behalf of any particular candidate or, employed by an organisation which subscribes to the PCC Code of conduct then I would not be able to attend.
Not one to take no for an answer, I got in touch with the PCC and asked a few questions along the lines of what is involved in subscribing the the PCC. Unsurprisingly I found that this was out of my league (several of my regular readers in Tory Central will, I know, be chuckling at this).
My research did how ever turn up one very interesting fact, that in January of this year the Daily Express took it up on them selves to unsubscribe from the PCC code of conduct and were therefore no longer covered by it.
I returned to the council offices and asked the question "What if I was a journalist working for the Daily Express" the response I got was that obviously as a journalist of the Daily Express I would be granted access.
Having pointed out that the Daily Express did not subscribe to the PCC, I presented my self at the count that evening, was admitted to the press area, and began my cover it live session which was, sadly, very uneventful for the next 8 hours.
Having been through that experience I am very concerned about the proposed review which has been announced this evening. Yes, I agree that the behavior of the news of the world was totally outrageous and that those involved should be prosecuted. But, I fail to see what moral right the government has to censure the press, and that inevitably is what will happen.
The PCC Code of Conduct covers mobile phone hacking, it says very clearly "Thou shalt not hax", in very simple and generic terms point 10 reads :
"The press must not seek to obtain or publish
material acquired by using hidden cameras
or clandestine listening devices; or by
intercepting private or mobile telephone
calls, messages or emails; or by the
unauthorised removal of documents, or
photographs; or by accessing digitally-held
private information without consent."
So you see the issue here is not a lack of policy, the issue is the lack of any form of moral compass being engaged by a minority of journalists, combined with a lack of enforcement of the existing code of conduct, and this wishy washy "choice" the media have as to whether they even follow it or not.
If Cameron and his cronies take it upon them selves to introduce legally binding censure-ship of the press then whats to stop them taking on bloggers and twitter? There have already been high profile cases were councils and government departments have tried to subpoena twitter user details. Indeed the toxification of the News Of The World brand has been attributed to a greater extent to Twitter which is proving to be a very powerful form of social media.
This was demonstrated in a positive manner here in North Lincolnshire where through the use of twitter and social networking sites residents were made aware of the plight of fish in a local lake. The official response was that the fish would be removed from the lake on Friday, due to publicity via twitter, the fire brigade turned up on Wednesday and filled the late up. A small scale local issue I know, but another fantastic example as to just how positive new media can be in galvanising public opinion and forcing government agencies to act.
In short, make the PCC Code of Conduct mandatory and provide a mechanism by which it can be enforced effectively. We don't need censure or government inquiries, all we need is some willingness on behalf of the government, not censure and government dictates which will inevitable creep in to the amateur blog sphere to keep anything the government does not agree with suppressed.
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