Daily Mail publisher challenges status of Leveson inquiry panel

Attempt to establish legal status of six advisers backed by Daily Mirror and Guardian publishers and national press body 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 do not include anyone with 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. Leveson told the early part of this morning’s hearing that he was eager to engage with the Daily Mail and said that 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 that “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”. The six advisers are Sir David Bell, the former of the chairman of the Financial Times; Shami Chakribati, the 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, the former political editor of the Daily Telegraph; and Sir Paul Scott-Lee, former chief constable of the West Midlands. Associated’s legal team voiced concerns that the six may be partial and “filter” their prejudices into the enquiry. However, Leveson 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.” •

Posted by on September 28, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.