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Economist editor: poor conduct by some journalists is price of free press Economist editor: poor conduct by some journalists is price of free press
(6 months later)
Abusive behaviour by some journalists may be the price the country has to pay to preserve the long-cherished freedom of the press which is at the core of any liberal society, the editor of the Economist has said.Abusive behaviour by some journalists may be the price the country has to pay to preserve the long-cherished freedom of the press which is at the core of any liberal society, the editor of the Economist has said.
John Micklethwait said he has real concerns that the freedom of the press, which the press has enjoyed for over 300 years, is now being threatened by a "mad" deal struck over pizza in Ed Miliband's office in the small hours of Monday morning.John Micklethwait said he has real concerns that the freedom of the press, which the press has enjoyed for over 300 years, is now being threatened by a "mad" deal struck over pizza in Ed Miliband's office in the small hours of Monday morning.
But he said the "mess" surrounding the battle to reform press regulation was borne out of Lord Justice Leveson's "scant interest" in serious journalism.But he said the "mess" surrounding the battle to reform press regulation was borne out of Lord Justice Leveson's "scant interest" in serious journalism.
"It's become something of a mess … Leveson was overly interested in celebrities and not enough interested in serious journalism and out of that you had a slightly sloppy report," he told the Guardian."It's become something of a mess … Leveson was overly interested in celebrities and not enough interested in serious journalism and out of that you had a slightly sloppy report," he told the Guardian.
He said that slips in journalistic ethics were regrettable, but "I think the difficulty is from a journalist's point of view … you come down to a choice, a choice between looking after one fundamental right, which is the right of people to some degree of privacy, and the other is the freedom of the press.He said that slips in journalistic ethics were regrettable, but "I think the difficulty is from a journalist's point of view … you come down to a choice, a choice between looking after one fundamental right, which is the right of people to some degree of privacy, and the other is the freedom of the press.
"And if you favour a system of journalists policing journalists, you have to be honest and admit that is going to probably end up with abuse, more abusive behaviour by journalists.""And if you favour a system of journalists policing journalists, you have to be honest and admit that is going to probably end up with abuse, more abusive behaviour by journalists."
Mickelthwait said he believed some of "the press still goes too far", but said that was not the point.Mickelthwait said he believed some of "the press still goes too far", but said that was not the point.
"Even though I dislike intensely a lot of the habits of the nasty bits of Fleet Street, one should not by any means confine those [critcisms] just to the papers controlled by Rupert Murdoch. Even if you dislike that, you run up against this big issue of the freedom of the press"Even though I dislike intensely a lot of the habits of the nasty bits of Fleet Street, one should not by any means confine those [critcisms] just to the papers controlled by Rupert Murdoch. Even if you dislike that, you run up against this big issue of the freedom of the press
"Now you're pushed into a direction where there is that fundamental question of state regulation which we are nervous about. At the Economist, we have always been supportive of the idea that anything that could be done to clean up Britain's libel laws[, should be done] … the idea of exemplary damages for people who are outside the system I find very difficult," he said."Now you're pushed into a direction where there is that fundamental question of state regulation which we are nervous about. At the Economist, we have always been supportive of the idea that anything that could be done to clean up Britain's libel laws[, should be done] … the idea of exemplary damages for people who are outside the system I find very difficult," he said.
He said the Leveson inquiry showed "scant interest" in his type of journalism and although he had attended an early meeting in Downing Street and had been kept abreast of negotiations on press reforms, the balance of interests skewed, and the focus was about Hacked Off and press victims, instead of finding a system that could protect serious journalism.He said the Leveson inquiry showed "scant interest" in his type of journalism and although he had attended an early meeting in Downing Street and had been kept abreast of negotiations on press reforms, the balance of interests skewed, and the focus was about Hacked Off and press victims, instead of finding a system that could protect serious journalism.
"The idea that this thing was carved together at 2am in the morning over pizza and with representatives of Hacked Off strikes me as mad. If ever there was a really difficult subject that required time and systematic consideration, then I think it's this. That is where my worries come from," he said."The idea that this thing was carved together at 2am in the morning over pizza and with representatives of Hacked Off strikes me as mad. If ever there was a really difficult subject that required time and systematic consideration, then I think it's this. That is where my worries come from," he said.
He said he would "reserve judgment" about joining a government approved regulator.He said he would "reserve judgment" about joining a government approved regulator.
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