You Scratch My Back and I’ll Scratch Yours

The recent departure of Peter Hill from the board of the PCC is yet another indication of the nepotistic climate that exists within the PCC (Press Complaints Commission). The “family” in this case being the numerous people on the board who have connections within the industry they are supposed to be regulating.

How can such an organisation operate properly when there are clear conflicts of interest?

Their motto says “fast, free, fair”.

Agreed, their service might be free and fast but is it fair?

They had a record number of complaints about the xenophobic article by Tony Parsons in the Daily Mirror. Almost 500 complaints were received on that one article and the article is repeated in tapas9.info (here).

Considering record complaints for a single article, the PCC ruled that it did not breach its code of practice.

Maybe that was because the Mirror Group are represented on the PCC Board by Tina Weaver of the Mirror Group? Or was it because Dianne Thompson CBE of Camelot PLC is on the board? Either way, the two have a recent business partnership which calls into question their inclusion on the PCC Board.

There’s nothing like a good old scratch

Camelot and the Daily Mirror have a recent partnership (here). On April 28, 2008, Camelot and the Mirror ran a promotion for its scratch cards. With all these business partnerships and affiliations, how can the PCC possibly adjudicate fairly and at arms length?

Camelot and the Mirror haven’t always been business pals. Rewind to 2001 and there was the famous scandal of Camelot denying a lottery win to the Totts - a couple who should have been paid out £3,500,000. The Mirror gave Camelot a battering in that story and Camelot’s stance was that they couldn’t break the rules and pay the Totts their money. Hmmm, so why do Camelot regularly break the rules in paying out winnings to under 16s?

If we look at the 17 PCC Board members in detail we see that the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, DC Thomson, The Daily Mirror, South Wales Evening Post, Kent Messenger, Johnston Press and The National Magazine Company are all represented. Most people are unaware of the papers owned by these companies. DC Thomson publishes more than 200 million newspapers and magazines annually. Johnston Press owns 140 papers up and down the UK and is one of the top 3 publishers of local newspapers.

Adjudications

A close examination of adjudications reveals that there are few, if any, decisions against publications where they have board member representation.

Ian Nichol is an interesting character to have on board. He is also a commissioner on the CCRC (Criminal Cases Review Commission). Ian’s Bio at the CCRC says “Ian Nichol…

is a chartered accountant and the Commission’s specialist in finance and fraud cases. Throughout a career working with many of the major accountancy firms Ian gained specialist experience of complex financial and tax investigations. From 1992 to 2001 he was a partner in the business advisory firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Latterly he ran his own consultancy business before joining the Commission in 2003. He has been co-author and editor of a number of books in the taxation and finance areas. Ian is also a Commissioner of the UK Press Complaints Commission, and has a particular interest in media coverage of crime and justice issues.”

Considering the type of reporting on the McCann case and Ian Nichols’ interest in miscarriages of justice, is this another reason why the McCanns are befriended by the British press?

If Ian isn’t all that interested in the McCanns, perhaps his CCRC colleague, Julie Goulding is;

Julie Goulding: is an experienced lawyer and was also an NHS Trust Chief Executive and clinical practitioner for many years. Julie trained at Hempsons a firm specialising in health care matters where she was involved in defending doctors, dentists and NHS Trusts in both civil and criminal cases. Julie continues to undertake pro bono work in civil cases. She joined the Commission in January 2007.

Of course, these are just the commissioners. The chairman of the PCC is Sir Christopher Meyer. His wife Catherine has strong connections to NCMEC, Ernie Allen, and Amber Alert. Defending the McCanns in March 2008, Lady Meyer said “A Europe-wide missing-child alert system would have “without doubt” saved Madeleine McCann”.

Peter Hill of the Daily Express did not stand a chance at the PCC. The die was already cast after the £550,000 payout to the McCanns. This is the strongest indication to date as to why the other newspapers have escaped the wrath of Team McCann. It would appear that they are being protected by the PCC along with all the other benefactors.