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Press Release 22-March-2012 on Leveson's Chilling Effect PDF Print E-mail
Press Releases

Press release

22-March-2012

The Chilling Effect of the Leveson Inquiry

The shocking revelations about phone hacking and invasions of privacy which have come out of the Leveson Inquiry leave the UK media at a dangerous crossroads.

 

The threat of state regulation is a real possibility after lurid claims of bribing, intercepting of phone messages and collusion with senior police officers appears to have left the print media at least with no moral footing.


The Manchester Salon is hosting a discussion on the implications of the Leveson inquiry for both the media and the way in which serious investigative journalism is carried out in the future.

 

The balance between privacy and the right of the press to scrutinise decision-makers and those in positions of power has tipped away from the media, with talk of a privacy law becoming more real by the week.

 

While the Leveson Inquiry has been dominated by revelations about journalists prying into the private lives of celebrities, a more fundamental issue is at stake: what kind of press do we want in the UK?

 

The issues of hacking and dubious investigative methods have been shown not to be confined to the tabloids, with middle and top end papers also implicated in double dealing and nefarious tactics. Any recommendations to come out of the inquiry will have an immediate and possibly chilling effect across the entire spectrum of the media, even broadcasters and digital media.

 

Leading the Salon debate will be Spiked journalist and political commentator Patrick Hayes and freelance journalist Helen Nugent.

 

Karl Marx once argued that ‘you cannot enjoy the advantages of a free press without putting up with its inconveniences. You cannot pluck the rose without its thorns!’ In trying to further regulate the press, to pluck the rose without the thorns (in this case the tabloids), what are the advantages of a free press that could be lost as a result?


Date:  Monday, 23 April, 2012, at 6.45pm, £5 entry.
Venue: Cross Street Chapel, Cross Street, Manchester, M2 1NL

 

For further details on the event and Manchester Salon’s activities, contact Simon Belt at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

 
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