Citation[]
Lord Justice Leveson, An inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the press (Leveson Report).
Overview[]
This Report delves into the culture, practices and ethics of the press. The key proposal is the recommendation that the U.K. government should create an independent self-regulatory body, governed by an independent board.
The Report ruled out out extending proposed new self-regulation to online-only publications and has rejected newspaper publishers' argument that they should be allowed to re-publish whatever is online.
| “ | The internet does not claim to operate by any particular ethical standards, still less high ones. Some have called it a 'wild west' but I would prefer to use the term 'ethical vacuum'.
This is not to say for one moment that everything on the internet is therefore unethical. That would be a gross mischaracterisation of the work of very many bloggers and websites which should rightly and fairly be characterised as valuable and professional. (But) bloggers and others may, if they choose, act with impunity. The press, on the other hand, does claim to operate by and adhere to an ethical code of conduct. People will not assume that what they read on the internet is trustworthy or that it carries any particular assurance or accuracy; it need be no more than one person's view. There is none of the notional imprimatur or kitemark which comes from being the publisher of a respected broadsheet or, in its different style, an equally respected mass circulation tabloid. |
” |