Former news of the world editor arrested

PM Cameron promises shake-up of British press, sweeping reforms.

UK’s media watchdog, Press Complaints Commission (PCC), is set to be scrapped and replaced by an entirely new agency that would be independent of the government and the media, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.

The on-going scandal today saw the arrest of Cameron’s former communications director Andy Coulson , who was the editor of the weekly tabloid News of the World between 2003 and 2007, a period during which the paper is alleged to have been involved in a series of phone hacking cases. Coulson had resigned as Cameron’s communications director in January, when the initial reports of the phone hacking had emerged. The hacking, that was initially believed to have tapped into the phones of a few murder and 7/7 terror victims, is now believed to have involved over 4,000 numbers.

The move to scrap PCC follows the closure of News of the World yesterday.The tabloid had been engulfed in a serious phone hacking scandal that had forced its owner News International to end the 168-year old paper’s legacy. News of the World would bring out its last edition this Sunday.

Addressing the media this morning Cameron said, “...I think it’s now clear to everyone that the way the press is regulated today is not working. Let’s be honest: the Press Complaints Commission has failed. In the hacking case, it was, frankly, completely absent....So, I believe we need an entirely new system. It will be for the inquiry to recommend what the system should look like. But my starting presumption is that it should be truly independent...independent of the press, so the public would know that newspapers will never again be solely responsible for policing themselves. But vitally, independent of government, so the public would know politicians are not trying to control or muzzle a press that must be free to hold politicians to account.”

The controversy involving Murdoch-controlled News of the World has also raised questions about the group’s plans to buy control of satellite broadcasting company BSkyB. Cameron said, “People are also asking about the prospective BSkyB bid. As I have repeatedly said, governments must follow proper legal processes and procedures. That is exactly what Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, is doing. His role is to take the advice of independent regulators and, as his department has made clear this morning, given the events of recent days, this will take some time.” The opposition Labour party has been demanding that the bid be referred to Ofcom, the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK media.

On hiring Coulson in 2007 despite allegations of hacking in News of the World under his watch Cameron said, “Andy Coulson worked for four years as my communications director. He resigned from the News of the World because of the things that happened on his watch. I decided to give him a second chance, and no one has ever raised serious concerns about how he did his job for me. But the second chance didn’t work out and he had to resign all over again. The decision to hire him was mine, mine alone, and I take full responsibility for it.”

Tabloid’s closure may not pinch owners

There have been strong speculations in the UK media that the closure of News of the World will not have any serious impact on the revenues of its owner, News International. It has been reported that the group has plans to convert its six-day week tabloid The Sun to launch a Sunday edition that would replace News of the World. This speculation has also been corroborated by the fact that the domain name sunonsunday.co.uk has been registered as recently as this Tuesday. Media International has neither confirmed, nor denied any plans to make The Sun a seven-day tabloid.