Newspapers should NOT be state-regulated, says BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten

  • He defends journalists who ‘flirt with illicit’ if there is public interest in story
  • Next BBC chief will get ‘substantially less’ than director-general Mark Thompson, who earns £671,000

By
Louise Eccles and Rob Cooper

Last updated at 4:20 PM on 23rd January 2012


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Pay cut: Lord Patten, chairman of the BBC Trust, said the corporation's next chief will be paid substantially less than than current boss Mark Thompson

Free speech: Lord Patten, chairman of the BBC Trust, said he did not think newspapers should be controlled in the same way as broadcasters

Newspapers should not face statutory regulation, the chairman of the BBC Trust said today, as he warned it was not for politicians to get involved in matters of free speech.

Lord Patten said that although broadcasters are regulated by Ofcom, he does not think the press should be controlled by a similar organisation.

And
he was also quick to defend journalists who did ‘things which flirted
with the illicit’ if there was public interest in the story.

But the former Conservative Party chairman, who gives evidence to the Leveson Inquiry today, said newspaper editors needed to show they could put in place a credible system to police themselves.

He acknowledged the question would be asked as to why broadcasters are treated differently to the papers.

Lord Patten said in an interview with The Times: ‘It would be preferable not to have any statutory back-up because we should be able to exercise self-discipline in our plural society, which doesn’t involve politicians getting involved in determining matters of free speech.

‘(That) is always going to raise suspicions that politicians or governments are trying to protect their own position.’

He added: ‘It’s a more open,
responsible and self-confident society that doesn’t give politicians any
opportunity to prevent the accountability which goes with an
interrogative, investigative press.’

Lord Patten said he believed it was correct that broadcasters are more closely regulated.

Pointing to images that showed Colonel Gaddafi’s body after his death, he said it was correct they were not shown on television.

However, he added it was fine for
newspapers to print them as parents who don’t want their children to see
the pictures can ‘put the newspaper away’.

However, he said that no one had yet told the Leveson Inquiry how to produce a new system of regulation for the press without an Act of Parliament.

Remuneration: Current director-general Mark Thompson earns £671,000. However he has not announced any plans to leave

Remuneration: Current director-general Mark Thompson earns £671,000. However he has not announced any plans to leave

In a wide-ranging interview, Lord Patten said the next director-general of the BBC will be paid a
‘substantially’ lower salary.

Mark Thompson, who holds the position at
present, earns £671,000 per year.

Lord Patten admitted that the broadcaster has already started a search for someone to fill its most senior role.

Although Mr Thompson, who has held
the position since 2004, has not announced any plans to leave, there
have been rumours he will step down after the London 2012 Olympics.

Lord
Patten said an international head-hunting firm, Egon Zehnder, had
already been appointed to produce a ‘succession plan’ by Easter.

But
he said they were not seeking a candidate – but reporting on who the
Corporation should be looking to as a replacement when the time comes.

He said he believed Mr Thompson would be able to stay in the role as long as he wished.

Lord Patten has often spoken of the need for reform at the BBC since he took over as chairman in June last year.

At the time, he said that he would take action over the ‘toxic’ issue of executives’ high wages and cut the number of senior managers from around 530 to about 200 by 2015.

He added: ‘Licence fee payers don’t expect the BBC to pay sky-high commercial rewards to people that work for a public service.’

Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

Private citizens should have protection from the press.
– B.Thomson, Scotland, 23/1/2012 11:47________Be careful about what you wish for. To demand a right to privacy sounds ideal, but in practice it could be abused. For instance, in France privacy laws have hampered police investigations into child abuse within families. A good lawyer and an ignorant judge are all it takes to twist an act of Parliament into something no-one wishes for. Just look at the Human Rights Act, and how it gives more protection to the criminal than the victim.

I’ve worked in media at a senior level
The DG is overpaid but he is visible – there are swathes of mid senior BBC managers on 80k plus who are useless. It is all smoke and mirrors – consultants are everywhere
Need really tight FOI question to get at what is going on starter for 10
1) What salary uplift have you paid to new external hires at SM in the last 3 years?
2) How much in consulting cost have been paid to each of (list consulting firms PwC, Deloitte, McKinsey etc)
3) How many FTCs are being paid over 60k
4) On your performance management system what proportion fall in good, satisfactory, unsatisfactory etc
5) Number of sick days taken
6) Travel cost to Salford of SMs
7) What are the total defined pension costs per SM including an allocation for the pension deficit to those on DB scheme – this will probably reveal basic SM salaries of way over 100k – significantly more than ITV or Sky.

The Porton Down cover-up with 109 servicemen missing. The 3.72 million pounds payoff that Leigh Day Co were paid for their silence.. 645 Porton veterans including 39 families of the deceased each received 8356 pounds and 54 pence while the rogue law firm Leigh Day received cloae to 4 million pounds.illegally. Why has this not received any press coverage???.

”Free Speech” What about the Freedom to criticise the EU which the BBC do everything in its power to stop.
– Freedom Fighter EUSSR//Todt, Cheltenham, England, 23/1/2012 14:07

What ARE you talking about? You can criticise the EU as much as you want and the BBC will not lift a finger to stop you. Indeed, they regularly invite EU critics onto their discussion and news shows.

Dan Miller, Rip Off Britain, 22/1/2012 18:52
Click to rate Rating 55
Three episodes of Sherlock would have cost you about 30p in total for excellent drama.

This is just more nonesense from the Inglorious BBC … Does anyone take the BBC seriously anymore? Only this morning we had to watch a USA author describe her fake book about the Obama family. I mean there was no mention of any of the contraversy surrounding Obama’s educational records, his security card, his long-form birth certificate, or anything else in her book! (If the Daily Mail is truly unfettered by government control they will publish my comment ..!)

Nor should any form of media be produced and paid for by taxation.

No we haven’t. Their license was revoked because they would not abide by the rules, and they chose not to exercise the option that would have allowed them to continue doing as they were, within those. Ofcom seems to have bent over backwards to try to accomodate them and they chose to put themselves in this position
– Avana Beach, London, UK, 23/1/2012 13:53
If you believe that, then I have a nice bungalow for sale with a sea view in Peckham, South London

”Free Speech” What about the Freedom to criticise the EU which the BBC do everything in its power to stop.

Well, we have just seen the government controlled Ofcom close PRESS TV because they were exposing the truth about the Middle East..- CJ, Ireland, 23/1/2012 11:05….No we haven’t. Their license was revoked because they would not abide by the rules, and they chose not to exercise the option that would have allowed them to continue doing as they were, within those. Ofcom seems to have bent over backwards to try to accomodate them and they chose to put themselves in this position

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