PCC

WHY IS THE PCC IMPORTANT?

• In a democracy, the press should not be subject to stringent controls by law or by government. The PCC, protects against this possibility
• The PCC is committed to protecting the public by ensuring that when the rules are breached, it can put things rght as soon as possible.
• It is fast (dealing with a complaint in an average of 35 days)
• It is free (costs complainants nothing to use the service)
• It is fair (Commission is independent from the industry i was set up to regulate)

PCC

WHO COMPLAINS TO THE PCC AND WHAT DO THEY COMPLAIN ABOUT?

• The PCC accepts complaints from anyone who believes and article involving them breaches the code.
• A number of celebrities have used the PCC's service but most complaints are from ordinary people.
• In 2007, 1.5% of complaints came from people in the public eye but (95.8%) came from ordinary members of the public
• The majority of complaints are about regional newspapers

PCC

WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF THE PCC?

• The PCC as set up in 1991 and replaced the Press Council
• During the 1980s, a small number of publications failed to observe the basic ethics of journalism and this led to many MPs losing confidence in the Press Council
• Some politicians believed that it would be preferable to introduce a new regulatory authority which would come under government control and would have the power to enforce legal punishments
• A report that followed did not recomment new statutory controls but proposed a new Press Complaints Commission
• A commitee of national and regional editors was set up and they produced a formal Code of Practice for the PCC to administer
• The Press Standards Board of Finance was set up to organise funding

PCC

HOW IS THE PCC FUNDED?

• The PCC is funded through a body called the Press Standards Board of Finance which is responsible for collecting money from newspapers and magazines in the UK
• The press has agredd that each newspaper or magazine should contribute an amount in proportion to the number of people who buy it and read it
• Members of the public do not have to pay for the serbice either directly or indirectly through their taxes
• The PCC does not recieve any money from the government

PCC

WHAT DOES THE CODE OF PRACTICE COVER?

• The Code of Practice has 16 sections and covers 4 main areas:

1. accuracy
2. privacy
3. news gathering
4. protecting the vulnerable

• An editor is expected to take responsibility for all the stories and photographs that appear in the publication and to ensure they comply with the code
• The code does not cover issues of taste and decency. This is because the PCC recognises that in a democratic society, newspapers must have the freedom to choose the style in which they publish material

PCC

HOW DOES THE SYSTEM WORK?

• The system of regulation adminstered by the PCC is not a legal one or run by the government
• It is based on voluntary agreement and the newspaper and magazine industry to allow itself to be regulated by an independent body
• While the Code of Practice, is drwn up by a commitee of editors, the PCC itself has a clear majorit of public members.
• 10 out of 17 of the commissioners have no connection to newspapers and magazines. None of the PCC staff are connected to the industry

PCC

WHAT DOES THE PCC DO?

• The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) is an independent body which deals with complaints about editorial content of newspapers and magazines in the UK, and their websites
• It administers a 16 clause Code of Practice which acts to the rules which editors and journalists must adhere
• The PCC investigates complaints from people who believe that the code has been breached - either in a published article or in the way the journalist obtained material. if their is a problem, the PCC acts as a mediator to resolve the dispute by way of a correction, apology or clarification
• If the problem cannot be settled, the PCC will assess the evidence and will issue a formal adjudication on the complaint.