Press Malpractice

4. What steps her Department is taking to help protect the public from press malpractice.

We recognise that incidents of undue attention and harassment from the media cause significant distress to the public. We will always defend media freedom, but with this freedom comes big responsibilities. Publishers must operate ethically and within the bounds of the law. The Secretary of State has met families who have experienced press intrusion. We are now carefully considering the next steps to determine how to ensure that public trust and accountability in news media is maintained and improved.

Last month, a national newspaper intruded on the privacy of one of the families bereaved by the meningitis outbreak, publishing information that the family had asked to be kept private. In opposition, Labour promised independent regulation of the press to curb this awful behaviour, so when exactly will the Secretary of State keep that promise?

The Secretary of State has been clear about this. In March she said, at the Society of Editors future of news conference, that the Government will

“will tread carefully and cautiously about regulation…as any right-minded Government should.”

Fearless journalists must be able to hold the Government to account, but there are also concerns that people are turning away from news and losing trust in issues that, as the hon. Member said, are very serious. I am happy to meet her to discuss such issues. The Government are closely following trends in media consumption. In an age of considerable increasing misinformation and disinformation, including press intrusion, we want to get this right.