Royal Charter met with concerns but support from West Berkshire politicians
Newbury MP Richard Benyon said he supported the charter, introduced following the Leveson inquiry into allegations of phone hacking and unethical intrusions by the press, but said he is wary of the impact it could have on the local press.
He said: “There’s undoubtedly a [need] to have an organisation with more teeth than existed before [but] I have raised concerns with members about the impact this could have on small newspapers, particularly local newspapers.”
The charter, backed by central Government Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour politicians and approved by the Queen on Wednesday, will see the formation of a new media watchdog which will replace the current Press Complaints Commission (PCC) and a new ethical code established, which could impose fines of up to £1m on media organisations who breach it.
It will be overseen by a recognition panel made up of four to eight members, none of whom can be journalists, civil servants or MPs.
The West Berkshire Parliamentary spokeswoman for the Liberal Democrats, Judith Bunting, said: “I wish we didn’t need it [but due to] what has happened in the last couple of years, something has to be done.
“We have to have a regulation that protects us from people who don’t behave.”
The bulk of the criticism aimed at the new legislation arises from concerns over the power it could give politicians over the freedom of expression, as the Charter could be re-written if two-thirds of those in the House of Commons voted in favour - subject to the approval of the recognition panel.
Mr Benyon, who found himself at the centre of a media dispute in 2012 when People newspaper reported that he had left his hosepipe running during a ban, said: “It was untrue and that’s what hacked me off.
“I took that to the PCC and saw firsthand how a complaint got buried in a bureaucratic system.
“I thought to myself, if I was a small businesses in West Berkshire and allegations were made that put that business at risk if they had to go through this process it would be a nightmare.
“I believe from my slender experience of one shoddy and messy piece of unprofessional journalism, actually we do need a better system.
“I wouldn’t support it if I felt that politicians were somehow able to sit over the shoulder of a journalist when they write a story.
“We have got a wonderful tradition in this country of robust journalism. I don’t see anything that has put that at risk.
“I think we must have a free and vibrant press but it needs to be fairer for people who are wrongfully harmed.”