The press were never in a post-Leveson straitjacket

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/oct/11/the-press-were-never-in-a-post-leveson-straitjacket

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Jane Martinson says of the legal battles between Prince Harry and the tabloid press that “wherever your sympathies lie, there are also unlikely to be any winners” (Royals v press: The Sussexes may win the battle but still lose the war, 7 October). It has always suited journalists to suggest it is unwise for victims of illegality to pursue justice against newspaper publishers. When my libel action against several newspaper groups succeeded, I was clearly the winner. The newspapers that smeared me were the losers.

Ms Martinson says: “Some privacy campaigners argue that the current state of the relationship between the young royals and the media is a sign of the press newly flexing its muscles after years in a post-Leveson straitjacket.”

What post-Leveson straitjacket could she be referring to? The national press industry has failed to join a Leveson-style regulator, instead persisting with the Independent Press Standards Organisation, a rehash of the discredited Press Complaints Commission which, after five years, has yet to order a single investigation, fine or front-page correction against a national paper.

Before journalists persuade themselves that the press has improved, I suggest that they ask the victims of the Manchester bombings, or Bataclan, or indeed the thousands of other individuals affected by press abuse every year.Christopher JefferiesRetired schoolmaster, Leveson inquiry witness and patron of the Hacked Off campaign

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