HISTORY OF PRESS REGULATION

This article explains the history of the press regulation in the UK, and raises some of the relevant issues:

History of UK Press regulation

Here is a timeline of changes and developments in the guidelines:



Here is a summary of the history of the PCC:



Historical case study example 1:

Princess Diana case study background: read this article

For further information, have a look at these links:

In the late 1980s there was concern about press intrusion. Two cases in particular caused outrage.


Historical case study example 2: A long lens was used to take photos of TV presenter Russell Harty as he lay dying in his hospital bed in 1988; 


and the Sunday Sport published photos and an alleged interview with actor Gordon Kaye as he was recovering from brain surgery following a serious car accident in 1990.

Historical case study example 3: GORDON KAYE v THE SUNDAY SPORT

In 1990, the Allo Allo actor, Gorden Kaye, was photographed in hospital by two Sunday Sport journalists while he recovered from brain surgery. The reporter and photographer had disguised themselves as medical staff.
Kaye suffered serious head injuries in a car accident  on 25 January 1990. Although he cannot remember any details of the incident, he still has a scar on his forehead from a piece of wooden advertising boarding that smashed through the car windscreen. While recovering in hospital from emergency brain surgery to treat injuries sustained in the accident, Kaye was photographed and interviewed by Sunday Sport journalist Roger Ordish. He sued the Sunday Sport, but the British Court of Appeal held that his privacy had not been invaded — a decision once said to be the low point of British privacy law.

Mr Justice Eady was strongly influenced by the absence of any legal protection against publication for Mr Kaye, saying that there was "a serious gap in the jurisprudence of any civilised society, if such a gross intrusion could happen without redress."

Mr Justice Eady, the most senior libel judge in England and Wales, sat on the Calcutt committee in 1990 which considered the introduction of a privacy law. He was in favour of a law, but journalists opposed it. The law was never introduced, but the Human Rights Act, which came into force in 2000, enshrined a right to privacy under Article 8. Legal observers say that that Mr Justice Eady believes the law must apply the Act and weigh the rights to privacy against freedom of expression.

Gordon Kaye in 'Allo Allo'

PCC Evolution

PCC Teacher's Resource Pack