(29 Nov 2012)
1. Wide of audience awaiting start of statement by Lord Justice Brian Leveson, author of the Leveson Inquiry, report on British media ethics
2. Leveson walking on-stage and taking seat
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Justice Brian Leveson, author of report on British media ethics:
"Unfortunately, as the evidence has shown beyond doubt, on too many occasions, those responsibilities (of the media), along with the editors' code of conduct, which the press wrote and promoted, have simply been ignored. This has damaged the public interest, caused real hardship and, on occasion, wreaked havoc in the lives of innocent people."
4. Various of audience
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Justice Brian Leveson, author of report on British media ethics:
"What is needed, therefore, is a genuinely independent and effective system of self-regulation of standards, with obligations to the public interest."
6. Wide of audience and Leveson speaking
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Justice Brian Leveson, author of report on British media ethics:
"The press needs to establish a new regulatory body which is truly independent of industry leaders, and of government, and of politicians."
8. Cutaway of Robert Jay QC, lead counsel for the Leveson Inquiry
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Lord Justice Brian Leveson, author of report on British media ethics:
"The ball moves back into the politicians' court. They must now decide who guards the guardians."
10. Wide of Leveson on stage
11. Zoom out from Leveson at end of statement, AUDIO: applause
STORYLINE:
Britain needs a new independent media regulator to eliminate a subculture of unethical behaviour that infected segments of the country's press, a senior judge said on Thursday at the end of a year-long inquiry into newspaper wrongdoing.
Lord Justice Brian Leveson said that "what is needed is a genuinely independent and effective system of self-regulation".
In a statement in central London after the report was released on Thursday, he said that, on too many occasions, the responsibilities of the press had simply been ignored.
"This has damaged the public interest, caused real hardship and, on occasion, wreaked havoc in the lives of innocent people," he said.
Leveson issued his two-thousand-page report at the end of a media ethics inquiry that was triggered by revelations of tabloid phone-hacking and expanded to engulf senior figures in politics, the police and Rupert Murdoch's media empire.
He heard evidence from hundreds of journalists, politicians, lawyers and victims of press intrusion during months of hearings that provided a dramatic, sometimes comic and often poignant window on the workings of the media.
His proposals will likely be welcomed by victims of press intrusion and some politicians, who want to see the country's rambunctious press reined in.
But some editors and lawmakers fear any new body could curtail freedom of the press.
Leveson insisted in his report that politicians and the government should play no role in regulating the press, which should be done by a new body with much stronger powers than the current Press Complaints Commission.
He said the new body should be composed of members of the public including former journalists and academics - but no serving editors or politicians.
"The press needs to establish a new regulatory body which is truly independent of industry leaders, and of government, and of politicians," he said.
It should also have the power to demand prominent corrections in newspapers and to levy fines of up to one (m) million pounds (1.6 (m) million US dollars).
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
