A Downing Street source has cleared up any confusion about whether the Vision of the Pension Plowman will fall under the Charter:
“No newspaper or blogger would be forced to join the regulator, the Royal Charter system is a system of incentivisation. However, those ‘relevant publishers’ that choose not to join the regulator would be subject to costs and could be subject to exemplary damages if taken to court.
‘Relevant publishers’ are specifically defined and could include blog sites that are written by multiple authors, have editorial control and are published in the course of business.”
Standard definition of “in the course of business”
In case you are wondering, the views of the pension plowman are not necessarily those of First Actuarial and quite often aren’t.
The blog is attended to most days but the Plowman has never taken a brass farthing by way of advertising, sold goods from the site or purchased and produced anything with regards this blog.
As Harry Cole (Guido) told radio 4
“I don’t see I should join a regulator. This country has had a free press for the last 300 years, that has been irreverent and rude as my website is and holding public officials to account. We as a matter of principle will be opposing any regulator especially one set up and accountable to politicians we write about every day,”
Obviously it’s a no from the Pension Plowman, and I would fight in court the definition of a relevant publisher if applied to me.
Related articles
- Royal Charter or Star Chamber For Stars? (openrightsgroup.org)
- Nick Clegg veto could derail Cameron’s press regulation plan (guardian.co.uk)
- Q and A: the new press regulator (thetimes.co.uk)
- Outstanding questions about Leveson’s Royal Charter (bigbrotherwatch.org.uk)
- Guido’s Warning to Liberal & Progressive Bloggers:The Royal Charter Aiming for Guido, They’ll Get You Too (order-order.com)
- Late-night talks bring deal on press law closer (thetimes.co.uk)
- Bloggers may face libel fines under press regulation deal (guardian.co.uk)
- Press regulation deal: the key points (guardian.co.uk)
- Press regulation leaves many newspapers furious at ‘historic’ deal (guardian.co.uk)
- The Leveson report : MPs cross the Rubicon on press regulation (telegraph.co.uk)
