CorpComms Magazine

A statement released on behalf of the committee behind the code said the changes had been agreed following consultation with the magazine and newspaper industry and the PCC.

 

The new rules, which will be effective from the beginning of January, will require editors who breach the code to publish the PCC's critical adjudication in full while satisfying the level of due prominence agreed with the PCC.

 

The rule change will not necessarily mean that adjudications relating to front page stories are run on the front page but it does mean the PCC has the power to demand this.

 

On the subject of the public interest defence, the new rules will require editors to show that they had good reason to believe the public interest would be served and how that was established at the time.

 

The changes have been agreed by the Code Committee following consultation within the industry and the PCC.

 

Editor of the Daily Mail Paul Dacre said: 'These changes are designed to ensure that the normal good practice followed in most newspaper offices in most cases becomes enshrined in the Code itself, and in doing so explodes some popular fallacies about press self-regulation.

 

'Last year we introduced a rule requiring editors running corrections to agree prominence with the PCC in advance. This has helped to kill the myth that they are routinely buried in the paper. Now we have brought the publication of critical adjudications more into line with that. It should dispose of another misconception,' he added. 

 

'The public interest amendment underwrites the need for editors and senior executives to give proper consideration before they consciously decide to breach the Code - something that should never be done lightly. They should be ready to demonstrate they have observed this process. Most do it already. This measure should be a safeguard, not a burden.'