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IPSO appoints politician as Chairman: Defend British journalists from politician-led regulation

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On August 1st 2019, the newspaper complaints-handler “IPSO” appointed a politician as its Chair.

Press freedom advocates around the world recognise that politicians shouldn’t be ANYWHERE NEAR a press regulator or complaints-handler. 

Yet under IPSO, the work of many British journalists will soon be made ultimately accountable to a politician.


Join the fight to protect press freedom and sign the below:

We the undersigned believe that the freedom of the press is fundamental to a free society, and that any newspaper regulatory or complaints-handling body should be wholly free from partisan political influence or the appearance of such influence.

 

We therefore regret the appointment of a Parliamentarian who was, until recently, a party-political politician and a Government minister, to the Chair of IPSO. We believe that this is incompatible with any claims to independence, and therefore that IPSO is unfit to be a complaints-handler.

Signed,

Hacked Off  |  Media Reform Coalition  |  Professor Natalie Fenton, Goldsmiths University   
      Jonathan Coad, Media Lawyer  |  Professor Brian Cathcart, Kingston University   
John Hendy QC  |  Professor Chris Frost, Chair of NUJ Ethics Council    
Jane Winter, Leveson Witness   |   Christopher Jefferies, Victim of Press Abuse 
  Sir Harry Evans  |  Hugh Grant    
Stefan Bednarczyk, Actor  |  Graham Johnson, Journalist    
Peter Kosminsky, Director  |  Dan Evans, Journalist  |  Peter Tatchell  |  Peter Jukes, Journalist  
 Baroness O’Neill of Bengarve  |  Professor Julian Petley, Brunel University  
 Professor Angela Phillips, Goldsmiths University  |  Paul Farrelly MP    
Tamsin Allen, Media Lawyer  |  John Tulloch, Victim of Press Abuse   |   Paul Dadge, Victim of Press Abuse  |  Terry Christian, Journalist and Broadcaster  
 Andy Miller, Victim of Press Abuse  |  Michael Frayn, Playwright and Novelist    
David Lammy MP  |  Andy Slaughter MP  | Professor Mark Hobart, SOAS   
Professor David Buckingham, Loughborough University  
Professor Martin Kemp, University of Oxford  |  Ronnie Campbell MP    
Mary Ellen-Field, Victim of Press Abuse  |  Dr Martin Moore, King's College London     
Shoaib M Khan, Human Rights Lawyer   |  Tom Brake MP   |  The Rt Hon. the Lord Dholakia OBE DL     
 Lord Foulkes of Cumnock   |  Lord Beecham   |   Baroness Harris of Richmond   
 The Rt Hon. Lord Tyler CBE PC DL   |   Lord Filkin  |  Lord Judd  |  Lord Soley  |  Lord Swinfen  |  MEND
John Cleese  |  Article 19

I want to sign the open letter and understand that my name may be published as part of this campaign and shared with the Independent Press Standards Organisation as a signatory.  My email address will not be published.
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Names of signatories may be published online as part of this campaign and shared with the Independent Press Standards Organisation as a signatory.  Email addresses will not be published. Data will be processed by Organic Campaigns: Privacy policy. Acknowledgements