Ex-TV chief urges Press regulation

The regulator should be able to impose “significant sanctions” including financial penalties, Blair Jenkins suggests in his report for the Carnegie Trust UK.

The document, published today, also calls for a new ethical and editorial code for all journalists as the key measure to support and encourage better news media.

It said that an industry-wide code would give much clearer guidance and set high standards for journalists in newspapers, broadcasting and online news services.

The report – Better Journalism in the Digital Age – will be forwarded as a formal submission to the Leveson Inquiry into Press standards.

The document said that a new regulatory framework for the Press was needed, one that is independent of both government and the newspaper industry.

It suggests the system should be voluntary, but with very strong incentives for joining.

Mr Jenkins is a former head of news and current affairs at both BBC Scotland and STV, and is now a Carnegie Fellow.