Lord Leveson addresses an inquiry seminar last month (still taken from Inquiry video)
The National Union of Journalists, the Telegraph Media Group and Trinity Mirror were granted core participant status in the Leveson Inquiry into press standards and ethics yesterday (31 October).
The NUJ said it had appealed a previous decision not to grant the union core participant status, which allows organisations and individuals to be legally represented at the inquiry and have questions asked on their behalf.
General secretary Michelle Stanistreet said following the appeal and discussions with the inquiry team at the end of last week, the union has now been granted the status.
In a statement Stanistreet added that the union "can provide the inquiry with knowledge and expertise that spans the breath of the media industry".
"We speak on behalf of ordinary journalists who spend their lives working for different media organisations, including broadsheet and tabloid newspapers, at national, regional and local level.
"During the previous Leveson sessions, newspaper editors and proprietors have dominated and they have tried to set their own parameters for the inquiry. However, such executives represent a tiny minority of the industry and have a clear vested interest – the NUJ represents those journalists who make up the vast majority of a vibrant and diverse industry, and it is vital their voices are also heard and given serious consideration."
The union also hopes to be able to provide an avenue for journalists to give evidence to the inquiry anonymously.
Lord Leveson, who is overseeing the inquiry, announced the first set core participants in the first part of the inquiry in September, at which point he denied the status to former chief executive of News International Rebekah Brooks.
Those who were granted the status included News International, publisher of the now-defunct News of the World; Guardian News & Media, publisher of the Guardian; Northern & Shell, publisher of the Daily Express; the Metropolitan Police Service, and 46 individuals.
The Inquiry is reportedly due to start its first hearing on 14 November.
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