Editors of the national press, including the Guardian, the Mirror and the Independent today questioned the existence of a "broader crisis" in the culture of the British press, but supported calls for a "beefed up" Press Complaints Commission to deal with wider issues.

Speaking on a panel of national and regional press representatives at the Society of Editors annual conference, Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger called for honesty when reflecting on the current situation for the press, describing a "fairly grave combination of circumstances" facing the industry in light of the phone-hacking scandal.

"There is a problem with the PCC," he said, adding this has become "more apparent" in recent times. "The code is great but there is a problem with the PCC."

Editor of the Mirror Richard Wallace insisted that the public does not think the press "is broken and [people] don't believe it's all about tabloid excess" but added that the media "need to be seen to be doing something about the errors that we make".

"I absolutely support some form of independent ombudsman so we can be seen to be more transparent. But is the whole of Fleet Street ridden with criminality? No."

Independent editor Chris Blackhurst said that while the phone-hacking scandal has so far been largely focused on the News of the World "we're all tarnished" and that this cannot be ignored. However, he did seek to clarify comments he previously made on the BBC's Media Show in relation to self-regulation and the registering of journalists.

"What I'd like to see is a beefed up PCC. I'm not in favour of state licensing of journalists. The idea I should have a piece of paper in my top drawer giving me permission to perform my job from Theresa May is abhorrent.

"What I was trying to say [on the Media Show] is that the PCC or another body should have the ability to effectively bar journalists from working."

Discussing what he thought led to the phone-hacking scandal, he referred to an "intense pressure" within the Sunday newspaper market.

"We got ourselves in a situation where the Sunday market became relied on for breaking stories, [where it was] not just good enough to go back into stories from the previous week or look ahead to the next. In the public mind you had to break stories on Sunday. The News of the World prided itself on breaking stories so I am sure it was intense."

Editor of the Times James Harding told the conference that he felt while the PCC is "a very effective complaints mechanism" any future body would need to offer a system of a "prize for compliance and price for non-compliance".

"Journalists by and large believe deeply in the social value of what they do. It is important to remind people that journalists by and large are seeking to do something ethical. My answer to the issue of confidence is best thing for us to do is go out and break good stories.

"I would keep the complaints mechanism, but [a regulator would] have to deal with the compliance issue and how you make compliance popular."

While regional press representatives also denied a crisis in the culture of the press, they questioned calls for reform of the PCC, with Neil Hodgkinson, editor of the Hull Daily Mail, saying he "wonders what really has it got to do with us?"

"There are thousands of regional journalists who for years have been well represented and well guided by the PCC.

"It's quite embarrassing if you fall foul of the PCC. From a regional point of view it has always worked well for us.

"There is no proof yet that this is endemic in the industry. To come out and say the whole of the press needs to change I think is a knee-jerk reaction."
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