Inquiry calls for law to underpin press watchdog

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 29 November 2012

A new inquiry has called for a law-backed independent body to oversee press regulation in the UK. This follows the shocking phone hacking scandal involving Rupert Murdoch's News of the World, raising concerns about press ethics.

Summary

LONDON: A far-reaching inquiry into British newspapers called for a new independent body to regulate the press, backed by law, to prevent a repeat of the excesses which led to a phone hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World tabloid.

Senior judge Brian Leveson said the recommendations would in no way allow parliament to regulate the newspapers, but his proposals will put Prime Minister David Cameron on a collision course with an already hostile press and senior members of his government if he accepts the findings.

The inquiry was ordered by Cameron following public outrage at Murdoch's now defunct tabloid whose staff routinely hacked into phones, including that of schoolgirl Milly Dowler who was later found dead. - Reuters

KEY POINTS:

• Inquiry calls for a law-backed independent regulator for the press.
• Recommendations aim to prevent repeating past press excesses.
• Tensions expected between the Prime Minister and the press if accepted.
• Inquiry initiated following public outrage over phone hacking.
• The scandal specifically involved the hacking of Milly Dowler's phone.