Media Viewpoint: What the Papers Didn't Say

Beginning of article

While the Government moves ever closer to privacy legislation, the press seems incapable of mounting effective opposition which commands the support of the public. Editors recently published their Alternative White Paper: it had little new to offer and made no real impact.

The sad truth is that the defence of press freedom in Britain has been a case of too little, too late; and editors and their owners must take the blame.

The real problem for the British press is that it is over-regulated by a variety of laws, without any compensating press freedom legislation. At the same time, the public places far less trust in the accuracy of press news articles and are much …