Daily Mail editor: unite to fight for press freedom

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/oct/28/daily-mail-editor-press-freedom-paul-dacre-ripa-eu

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Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre has appealed for press unity in the face of what he said were wide-ranging threats to the future of the industry.

Dacre cited threats to journalistic sources through police use of Ripa legislation, the EU’s “right to be forgotten” ruling and suggestions from some politicians that they will “finish what they began with Leveson” after the general election.

Describing a “rumbustious free press” as one of the factors behind the UK’s relatively low level of corruption, he also appealed to politicians and police to “drop hostilities” that developed in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal and the Leveson inquiry.

Speaking at a Ritz reception marking the 175th anniversary of the NewstraAid Benevolent Fund, Dacre said: “I note with some irony that Leveson had barely a word of criticism for the police and the politicians. Well, if the first had done their job properly and the second had not so sycophantically fawned upon Murdoch, Leveson would never have occurred.

“To the police and politicians made so suspicious of the press by Leveson I would argue that it is in all our interests to drop hostilities and to try and restore the mutual respect we should have for each other and which is an important ingredient in a healthy democracy.”

Addressing industry unity, he added: “In the 2000s we faced an altogether different battle as we had to re-engineer the entire shape of our businesses, and the skills of our journalists, in the face of the digital revolution.

“And, of course, in the last three years we have had to fight for press freedom itself, and our most precious heritage; the right to report free of government control of editorial content.

“Those battles often bring out the best in us, but they can also bring out the worst, dividing us and setting us ourselves against each other in a way which only gives succour to those who wish to control us.”

Dacre also criticised the BBC, accusing it of “negativity about the popular press”.

He added: “I note with some irony that there has been no judicial inquiry into the BBC’s role in the Jimmy Savile and Rolf Harris scandals. The News of the World may have hacked celebrities’ phones, it didn’t sexually abuse teenage children.

“And as for the BBC’s negativity about the popular press, I say be careful of what you wish for. Support government controls shackling the press and you may find that the political class comes for you next. The media as a whole should be united in defending freedom of expression.”

NewstrAid, known colloquially as “Old Ben”, was set up in 1839 to support newspaper vendors in London. It helps people from all over the UK who have worked in the retail, wholesale, distribution and circulation parts of the newspaper and magazine industries.