Mark Thompson

BBC director general Mark Thompson has warned against a single converged regulator for the British media

Credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA

The director general of the BBC has defended self-regulation of the British press, saying that the current system led by the Press Complaints Commission "should not be dismissed out of hand" in the wake of heavy criticism over the phone-hacking scandal.

Speaking at the International Press Institute conference in Taiwan on Sunday morning, Mark Thompson said he was "sceptical of the view that newspapers should be regulated in the same way as broadcasters like the BBC who reach into every household in the land".

Thompson argued that the non-statutory regulation of the press meant it was able to keep a close eye on the regulation of broadcasters such as the BBC and Sky, which are obliged to keep to guidelines enforced by Ofcom and designed to ensure their coverage is fair and balanced.

"Plurality of regulation is a good thing. One of the safeguards that broadcasters in the UK have is the presence of a far less regulated press which can draw attention to any attempt by the authorities or anyone else to misuse their powers when it comes to broadcasting.

"To put all journalism under a singled converged regulator would potentially mean that, if ever the state wished to limit media freedom, it would have a single lever with which to do so."

Thompson defended the PCC, which came under fire in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal for its failure to properly censure News International, claiming that the regulatory body had a "good record in arbitrating complaints and disputes".

“The PCC was not established as a regulator as such and it is not reasonable to criticise it for not doing things it is not designed or empowered to do," he said.

He did recommend however that the PCC be given additional power to "conduct unfettered investigations into complaints and, in cases where serious complaints are upheld, to impose fines or other sanctions on guilty parties". He suggested broadcast regulator Ofcom could be called in by the PCC to investigate wrongdoing and issue fines on the press.

Thompson also warned that British journalism was entering a "dangerous period" in the wake of an attempt by the Met police to force the Guardian to reveal the source of its Milly Dowler phone hacking story.

The Met has backed down from its attempt to secure a production order against the newspaper, but Thompson said the move was part of a "disturbing trend" of police forces demanding information about journalistic sources.

"This production order is part of a wider, and in my view, disturbing trend for police forces in many parts of the UK routinely to demand that journalists disclose sources and hand over journalistic materials.

"At the BBC, we receive an ever-growing number of demands for untransmitted news rushes which the police seem to regard as having no more privilege or protection attached to them than CCTV pictures."
Tags: Click tag to find related articles; click icon for feed

Free daily newsletter

If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).

Related articles