Daily Mail publisher challenges status of Leveson inquiry panel
Complaint about possible prejudice and panel's lack of tabloid experience backed by Guardian and Daily Mirror publishers
The publisher of the Daily Mail has challenged Lord Justice Leveson over the composition of his six-strong advisory panel amid concerns that the prime minister's appointees lack tabloid or regional newspaper experience.
The complaint is being supported by Trinity Mirror, publisher of the Mirror titles; the Newspaper Publishers' Association, which represents the national press; and Guardian News & Media, which publishes the Guardian and the Observer. Associated is seeking to establish the legal status of the six advisers helping Leveson.
The Leveson inquiry is examining the culture, practices and ethics of the press in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.
Leveson told the early part of this morning's hearing that he was eager to engage with the Daily Mail and said he was trying to arrange for Paul Dacre, the paper's editor-in-chief, to attend next month. The judge said: "I did ask him to participate on 6 October but he can't, and I'm waiting to hear from him about 12 October."
A solicitor representing Associated Newspapers told the hearing "we do not want to be confrontational" and stressed the importance of the judge's work, adding: "under the terms of reference [this inquiry] raises very important issues for the future conduct, regulation and ownership of the newspaper industry".
Leveson's six advisers, all appointed by David Cameron, are Sir David Bell, former chairman of the Financial Times; Shami Chakribati, director of human rights watchdog Liberty; Lord David Currie, the former chairman of Ofcom; Elinor Goodman, the one-time polictical editor of Channel 4 News; George Jones, former political editor of the Daily Telegraph; and Sir Paul Scott-Lee, former chief constable of West Midlands police.
Associated's legal team voiced concerns that the six may be partial and "filter" their prejudices into the enquiry. However! , Leveso n stressed their role was only an advisory one. The judge challenged the view that the grouping had any sort of judicial role, noting that "the conclusion [of the inquiry] will be mine and mine alone."
The judge added: "I am very conscious that I am stepping into a profession that is not the one that I spent 40 years of life in. It is critiical that I obtain advice from those who have made their life in this area, not least because I would be keen to understand any flaws that I might have because of lack of experience."
Associated argued that the Leveson panel should have more members, and claimed the inquiry would "benefit from experts across the industry" that would "fill the gap" left the lack of representation for mid-market or tabloid papers.
The publisher's legal team also signalled it was particularly unhappy with the presence of Sir David Bell because he had been a "leading light" in the Media Standards Trust, which campaigns for high standards in news and organised the Hacked Off campaign for a public inquiry into phone hacking. Bell was chairman of the Media Standards Trust until he resigned to join the Leveson panel.
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