'Innumerable inaccuracies and flawed analysis' in Media Standards Trust report, says Meyer
PCC responds to MST's critical research findings
– 2 min read
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The Media Standards Trust's (MST) research into UK press regulation was inaccurate and flawed, the chairman of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) Sir Christopher Meyer has said in a letter to the organisation, seen by Journalism.co.uk.
Last month the Trust's report 'A More Accountable Press' levelled numerous criticisms against the PCC and said the current regulatory system is in need of reform, calling it 'insufficiently effective, largely unaccountable [and] opaque.'
Replying to the MST's request for a meeting to discuss part two of the research, which will make recommendations for UK regulation, Meyer wrote: "[I]t is hard to see what this might achieve unless part two acknowledges and corrects the innumerable inaccuracies and flawed analysis of part one.
"I am afraid that we also require some reassurance about the credentials of those carrying out the inquiry. In addition to the inaccuracies - some as basic as the false claim that the ASA [Advertising Standards Agency] was modelled on the PCC - the report does not appear to have been written by anyone with much understanding of self-regulation or the relationship between the PCC and the law."
In response to Meyer's letter, a spokesman on behalf of the independent press review group, which conducted the MST report, said: "We are pleased to have kickstarted a debate on the effectiveness of press self-regulation and we look forward to a constructive, detailed and thoughtful consultation on the issues over the coming months."
In the letter , Sir Christopher Meyer made criticisms about the accuracy of the report, disputing the statistics relating to the number of complaints, adjudications and rulings.
Meyer said in the letter "[W]e were dismayed that the Trust should be willing to allow publication of a strident report that is, by virtue of your failure to offer us any opportunity to contribute, both unbalanced and misleading."
Meyer said that it was an omission not to make 'any mention of the most recent detailed enquiry into self-regulation, namely that of the Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport, published in 2007'.
"Given that self-regulation will later this year be the subject of a further Select Committee hearing - the third such in six years - it is hard to understand how the MST can conclude that the PCC is not accountable," he added.
Meyer also detailed 'profound' changes made by the PCC since 2003, including the creation of the role of charter commissioner to deal with complaints from individuals who think their cases have been handled badly.
