At last,  Lord Justice Leveson has finally delivered his much awaited report into press regulation following the phone hacking scandal and the disgraceful behaviour of various journalists many of whom were employed by or associated with Rupert Murdoch’s News International. The scandal led, last year, to the closing down of Murdoch’s News of the World and I doubt many responsible journalists mourned its passing.

It seems to me that “responsible” is the key word in all of this, a word that seems almost archaic so rarely is it evidenced  in modern life. Responsibility for one’s behaviour or actions is an alien concept to many and certainly those journalists who hounded those victims of crime and other figures in the public eye (I dislike the use of the word “celebrity”) have much to answer for. It’s all well and good claiming the right to freedom of the press but with all rights there is an equal duty of responsibly. There are two sides to every coin.

Many people feel that the press has singularly failed to regulate itself effectively and it’s hard to disagree with that viewpoint. However, the question is should the press be regulated by Parliament with all that that entails? Is any further regulation required where victims of press intrusion have the ability to sue for libel and seek redress in the courts? In extreme cases, victims could rely on the protection of criminal law but if the CPS decided not to prosecute then the victim would have to fund a private prosecution. Unfortunately, in the absence of legal aid, the cost of court action would be prohibitive to all but the wealthy and so some protection is clearly necessary for the vast majority of the public.

Lord Leveson has proposed a new regulatory watchdog to monitor the press and whilst it may appear to be a compromise and a half way house it is probably the right thing to do. The press has undoubtedly failed  to regulate itself effectively and something had to be done to protect the innocent. So long as a proper balance is maintained between press freedom and responsibility then there should be no need for Parliamentary or Government interference. We can only wait and see.