Independent Press Standards Organisation

The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) was established on Monday 8 September 2014 following the windup of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), which had been the main industry regulator of the press in the United Kingdom since 1990. The PCC received extensive criticism for its lack of action in the News International phone hacking scandal, including from MPs and Prime Minister David Cameron, who called for it to be replaced with a new system in July 2011. The Leveson Inquiry was set up and reported in November 2012, recommending in favour of the establishment of a new independent body.

IPSO claims to be an independent regulator of the newspaper and magazine industry, and exists to promote and uphold the highest professional standards of journalism in the UK, and to support members of the public in seeking redress where they believe that the Editors' Code of Practice has been breached. The Editors' Code deals with issues such as accuracy, invasion of privacy, intrusion into grief or shock and harassment. IPSO is able to consider concerns about editorial content in newspapers and magazines, and about the conduct of journalists.

IPSO handles complaints, and conducts its own investigations into editorial standards and compliance. It also undertakes monitoring work, including by requiring publications to submit annual compliance reports. IPSO has the power, where necessary, to require the publication of prominent corrections and critical adjudications, and may ultimately fine publications in cases where failings are particularly serious and systemic.

The Leveson Inquiry found that the existing PCC was not sufficiently independent of the industry it was regulating and proposed the establishment of a new independent body. But he said that a legal framework was necessary to give this body powers of enforcement such as exemplary damages and suggested the possibility of a Royal Charter to provide this.

This route was accepted by David Cameron and following extensive political discussion, a Royal Charter on self-regulation of the press was granted by the Privy Council in October 2013 despite legal challenges by newspaper publishers (Pressbof) to prevent it. The publishers characterized the Charter as 'deeply illiberal' and had presented their own alternative proposals which the High Court did not accept as they did not comply with certain principles from the Leveson report, including independence and access to arbitration.

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