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Journalists must be seen to be acting responsibly and ethically in order to rebuild public trust in the media in the wake of the hacking scandal, according to a debate hosted by the Westminster Media Forum, which argued that formal regulation would not be the solution. 

Tom Kent, deputy managing editor and standards editor at the Associated Press, said: 'Ethics is not a set of standards but a practice that is acted out every day and therefore has to be an individual, bottom-up process.' 

Improved training of journalists and the introduction of conscience clauses in all employment contracts could also help the process of rebuilding trust.

The future of the Public Complaints Commission is uncertain but public affairs director Will Gore pointed out that, while there was undoubtedly room for improvement, it does have a role to play going forward.

But Gore added that the PCC had many constraints that impeded its work, such as its inability to compel media organisations to join and the limited scope of reprimands. 

Mark Lewis, partner at Taylor Hampton Solicitors, suggested that one solution to improve the effectiveness of the PCC might be to split its representative and regulatory functions. This would follow the model of the Law Society.

Following the Clementi Review of 2004, the Law Society's regulatory role has been performed by a board that is independent of its council. An Office for Legal Complaints was also created.  

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