Hacked Off says: A booklet is being sent to regional and local newspaper companies showing that they will be better off financially and in terms of risk, and their journalists will enjoy more freedom if they follow the Charter route of self-regulation.
In contrast, they would be worse off, would have less influence over their own affairs and would be more vulnerable to meddling by politicians if they joined the IPSO regulator proposed by News UK, Associated Newspapers and the Telegraph Group.
The Royal Charter has been the subject of relentless negative propaganda by some national newspapers, yet it remains the only system which enjoys the confidence of the public, the support of victims of press abuse and the backing of all parties in parliament.
The booklet, which is being published in the week of the first anniversary of the Leveson Report, is an attempt to redress the balance by pointing out where the local and regional press stand to benefit if they join the royal chartered system, and where they will lose out if they instead choose IPSO.
The report also explains how previous concerns raised by the local and regional press about a possible ‘flood of claims’ have been taken into account in the approved version of the charter, and asserts that a regulator capable of recognition under the charter criteria will be established.
In a letter accompanying the guide, sent to chief executives of all local and regional newspaper groups, the chair of Hacked Off, Hugh Tomlinson QC writes:
“I want to make you aware of the serious disadvantages of IPSO membership for smaller publishers.
“Under IPSO, you will surrender control to larger publishers, because it is structurally biased against smaller publishers.
“You will pay more because there is no “polluter pays” principle.
“You cannot leave for six years - regardless of any rule, fee, or code changes.
“You are more likely to be fined than well-resourced publishers as they will be better able to thwart investigations. And you won’t benefit from costs protections in court because you will have denied litigants the option to access arbitration.
“In any case, IPSO will not command public trust, which is essential for all functioning regulators.”
