1. William Young The Leveson Report Media
An independent regulatory body for the press should be established.
Findings
• Phone hacking
Leveson makes no findings on any individual but says he is not convinced hacking was confined to
one or two people. "The evidence drives me to conclude that this was far more than a covert, secret
activity, known to nobody save one or two practitioners of the 'dark arts'."
• Newspapers have recklessly pursued sensational stories
"There has been a recklessness in prioritising sensational stories, almost irrespective of the harm the
stories may cause and the rights of those who would be affected." The damage to people like the
Dowlers, the McCanns and Elle Macpherson's former adviser has been "devastating".
• Families of actors and footballers also have rights to privacy
Families of famous people have had some of their lives destroyed by the relentless pursuit of the
press. Leveson says he found "ample evidence" that parts of the press decided actors, footballers,
writers and pop stars were "fair game, public property with little if any entitlement to any sort of
private life or respect for dignity". He adds: "Their families, including their children, are pursued and
important personal moments are destroyed."
• Condemns covert surveillance
Leveson finds that there has been "a willingness to deploy covert surveillance, blagging and
deception in circumstances where it is extremely difficult to see any public interest justification". He
notes the News of the World was even prepared to put a surveillance team on two lawyers, Mark
Lewis and Charlotte Harris, acting for phone-hacking victims.
• Failure of compliance and governance at the News of the World
Few would subscribe to the view of Paul McMullan, the former feature writer who told the inquiry
that "privacy is for paedos", says Leveson, but he says the paper's "casual attitude to privacy and the
lip service it paid to consent demonstrated a far more general loss of direction".
• Complainants not taken seriously enough
Leveson finds there is "a cultural tendency within parts of the press vigorously to resist or dismiss
complainants almost as a matter of course". He says some papers are defensive, and even when an
apology is agreed they get their own back by resorting to "high-volume, extremely personal attacks
on those who challenge them".
Recommendations
• New watchdog independent of MPs and newspapers, with statutory underpinning
An independent self-regulatory body underpinned by statute. It should be free of "any influence
from industry and government". Leveson says: "It should be governed by an independent board. The

2. William Young The Leveson Report Media
chair and the members of the board must be appointed in a genuinely open, transparent and
independent way."
• The possibility of a first amendment-style law
Leveson says the legislation should allow for an independent regulator to be organised by the
industry, but it "should also place an explicit duty on the government to uphold and protect the
freedom of the press".
• Powers, remedies and sanctions of the new watchdog
Fines of 1% of turnover, with a maximum of £1m. The watchdog should have "sufficient powers to
carry out investigations both into suspected serious or systemic breaches of the code". Had the
Press Complaints Commission had this power it could have gone into the News of the World
newsroom to investigate allegations of widespread phone hacking.
• Libel resolution unit
The new watchdog should have an arbitration process in relation to civil legal claims against
subscribers. The process should be fair, quick and inexpensive. "Frivolous or vexatious claims" could
be struck out at an early stage.
• Membership
This is not legally obligatory, which means the likes of Richard Desmond, owner of the Express, could
continue to opt out of the regulatory body. But Leveson recommends that if they do not join the
independent regulator, they should be policed by the broadcast watchdog, Ofcom.
The Dowlers
The Guardian's revelation that messages had been deleted from 13-year-old Milly Dowler's phone
when it was hacked turned out to be an error that "was significant enough". But had it been couched
in "more cautious terms or less certain terms may not have been capable of criticism at all". Leveson
says the fact remains that the News of the World hacked the phone of a dead schoolgirl. "The
revelation of that story rightly shocked the public conscience in a way that other stories of phone
hacking may not have, but it also gave momentum to growing calls for light to be shed on an
unethical and unlawful practice of which there were literally thousands of victims. In that context,
whether or not News of the World journalists had caused the 'false hope' moment is almost
irrelevant."
The McCanns
Leveson devotes almost 12 pages to the McCann family. Some of the reporting of the disappearance
of three-year-old Madeleine McCann from Praia da Luz in Portugal in May 2007 was, Leveson says,
"outrageous". A number of newspapers were "guilty of gross libels", with the Daily Star singled out
for its headline claiming the McCanns sold their child: "Maddie sold by hard up McCanns".

3. William Young The Leveson Report Media
Press lobbying
On the press lobbying for self-regulation, Leveson is withering, saying he does not find "the self-
interested lobbying of the press to be an appropriate matter for press regulation". He says he has
some sympathy for politicians who are lobbied. "Not only are the press powerful lobbyists in their
own interests, but they wield a powerful megaphone with considerable influence."
The Police
• There is a perception that senior Met officers were "too close" to News International, which was
"entirely understandable" given police actions and decision-making. "Poor decisions, poorly
executed, all came together to contribute to the perception."
• Hospitality police received from media, lavish restaurant meals and champagne, did not enhance
the Met's reputation.
• The Met's decision not to reopen the criminal inquiry into hacking was "incredibly swift" and
resulted in a "defensive mind-set".
• Some police decisions from 2006-10 were "insufficiently thought through … wrong and unduly
defensive (and not merely with the benefit of hindsight)".
• The Met's hacking review, led by John Yates, failed in its strategy to inform potential victims of
hacking, including Lord Prescott.
• Given his friendship with a senior News International executive, Yates should have recused himself
from the inquiry.
• No evidence that decisions to limit the hacking inquiry were due to undue influence or corruption.
Integrity of police not challenged.
• It should be mandatory for chief police officers to record all their contact with the media, and for
that record to be available publicly for transparency and audit purposes.
• Chief Officers should also be the subject of regular independent scrutiny by Her Majesty's
Inspectorate of Constabulary, including through unannounced inspections.