PCC criticised over McCann coverage

A group of MPs have made a raft of recommendations to curb the "chilling" effect of libel actions on newspapers.
The Culture, Media and Sport Committee's wide-ranging report into press standards, privacy and libel also made recommendations to beef up the powers of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC).
It criticised the PCC for failing to do more to act over "false and damaging" newspaper coverage relating to Madeleine McCann's disappearance, an episode during which the report said self-regulation had not worked.
It said the Press watchdog should be re-named the Press Complaints and Standards Commission, with powers to fine members and suspend printing in the cases of the worst rule-breakers.
The report described the McCann case as "an important test of the industry's ability to regulate itself, and it failed in that test".
It said the newspaper industry's assertion that the McCann case was a one-off event showed that it is "in denial about the scale and gravity of what went wrong, and about the need to learn from those mistakes".
It continued: "In any other industry suffering such a collective breakdown - as for example in the banking sector now - any regulator worth its salt would have instigated an inquiry."
Committee chairman John Whittingdale said there was also a "serious concern" over the "increasing evidence that in recent years investigative journalism is being deterred by the threat and cost of having to defend libel actions...
"This report's recommendations are therefore designed to reduce the cost of libel actions and to correct the balance which has tipped too far in favour of the plaintiff. At the same time, we want to see the self-regulatory system under which the Press operates strengthened in order to increase its credibility and ensure that standards are maintained."
Stephen Abell, director of the PCC, said: "The PCC accepts that the report contains criticisms of some of its structures and practices, which will need to be given due consideration."