As reported by the Newspaper Society: A briefing on IPSO highlighting how the new regulator, which has been welcomed by Culture Secretary Maria Miller, delivers the key Leveson recommendations has been circulated to publishers and MPs following a meeting of the Industry Implementation Group last week.
Paul Vickers, chairman of the Industry Implementation Group, said: “The Industry Implementation Group – including representatives from across the national, regional, periodical and Scottish press - met last week to finalise the legal and contractual documentation that will establish the new press regulator, the Independent Press Standards Organisation. Very significant progress has been made.
“A number of suggestions, both from publishers and from other parties, have been incorporated and the four key documents will shortly be ready for a final consultation across the newspaper and magazine industry. Work is also well under way on the financing arrangements for IPSO; and the Foundation Group under the Chairmanship of Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers is undertaking the task of selecting an independent Appointments Panel to appoint the first Board.
“We hope that we will therefore be in a position to begin signing contracts that will establish IPSO during late September and October, with a view to implementation of the new regulatory system, fully compliant with the Leveson principles, in the early part of the New Year.”
David Newell, NS director, added: “The Independent Press Standards Organisation is on target to be up and running in early 2014. Recent industry meetings which have included magazine, regional and local and national newspaper publishers covering England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are paving the way for publishers to enter into legally binding agreements with IPSO guaranteeing its independence and financing.
“This is an important step forward in delivering an independent regulator covering thousands of magazines, newspapers and news websites.”
Giving evidence on press regulation before the Liaison Committee on Tuesday, Prime Minister David Cameron said that differences between the press industry's Royal Charter and the cross party Charter “are not massive.”
He added: “I hope that everyone will see sense and that we will find a way of having a charter that is in tune with Leveson and that the press can work with, but we are not there at the moment.”
