http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jun/17/pressandpublishing.privacy
By Owen Gibson
media correspondent
The Guardian
June 17 2008
The editor of the Daily Mail, Paul Dacre, has promised to re-examine the
rules that prevent journalists hacking into computers to obtain personal
information, to clarify and possibly tighten them, after becoming
chairman of the body responsible for the editors' code that governs
newspapers and magazines.
In his report on the activities of the committee that reviews and
revises the self-regulatory code overseen by the Press Complaints
Commission, he said the industry had faced a challenging year.
"The threat of custodial sentences under the Data Protection Act was
particularly worrying because of the effect it would have had on press
freedom by inhibiting investigative reporting," he said. "Such sentences
would also have meant that Britain would have been one of the only
countries in the civilised world to jail journalists trying to do their
job."
Richard Thomas, the information commissioner, has campaigned for jail
sentences for journalists breaking data protection laws after he
compiled two reports showing that newspapers - including the Daily Mail
- habitually bought personal details from private investigators.
[...]
Received on Tue Jun 17 04:01:36 2008