The NUJ has condemned the government for side-lining journalists and victims as it sides with newspaper publishers over the need to establish a press regulator governed by royal charter.
In a statement the NUJ claimed that the move amounted to a “… clear attempt by the Government to exclude journalists, press victims and the public from playing any part in future regulation will doom it to the same ineffectiveness as the Press Complaints Commission before it.”
A report by Lord Leveson into reform of the profession recommended that a new regulatory committee should not be composed solely of editors but constitute members of the public and journalists as well.
Professor Chris Frost, NUJ ethics council chair, said: “Newspaper owners have used their papers to present Leveson’s recommendations as an attempt at statutory control of free speech – but this is complete nonsense and a dangerous lie. The report calls for a free press responsible to an independent self-regulatory body with wide representation including journalists and the public.”